Demon Keeper
by ITILY
Summary: Near has just lost his parents in a plane crash and soon inherits a demon that has been passed down in his family for generations, Mello. Will Near be able to feed Mello's needs? What exactly does it mean to be a his keeper? Please R&R.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

I thought wrong. One after another they came. First it was an aunt of the lady in the red coat, then a college boy who was coming home for the holidays, then the fiancée of another lady wearing white flats, a good friend, a child, sometimes an entire family, leaving behind us lot gathered here today, and this is only the beginning of our grief. I thought the crowd, the burning candles and wet flowers under the slow drizzle would comfort me, make me feel less alone in my lost, but I was wrong. Being among them, just made my sorrow much more real and inescapable.

A tragedy they call it. One hundred and seven perished in horrible plane crash was the headline. I still remember the chill that came over me when my parents names were called and their photos displayed across the news. Victims of the crash.

I didn't cry, there wasn't anything left for me now, all I want is to be washed away by the rain like the extinguished flames over the candles, to drift off as a small trail of smoke into the sky, towards something better than the bitterness left behind. Cries emanated from everywhere, I covered my ears and hid my head on my knees, there was no where to hide from them, I must've been out of my mind with grief when I decided to come here.

"Near?" a hand touched my shoulder, I jerked and fell into a puddle, horror the first thing that came to my mind, did one of them notice me? "Near! What's wrong!" a very concerned L looked down at me, helping me up hurriedly. "Are you alright?" he asked again, hair more askew than usual, probably due to the humid weather. I simply nodded and started walking to the car quietly. The drive home would've been an awkward one plagued with questions had it not been with L, who never asks unnecessary questions, if there were some people who understands three words from one, then L would be a rarity that understands a full essay from no words at all. That, and he's also the only one I've met that doesn't have Shadows.

The last thing I remember was exhaustion before I was dragged into a strange dream.

A song plays softly at a distant, I've never heard it before but it's familiar somehow. Pink cotton covered the amusement park. We go round and round in the Ferris wheel until we reach the top and the basket comes off, turning into a hot air balloon. It takes us to the clouds. Mom is smiling as she holds her hat from being blown away while dad is saying something to me, but I don't understand what he's trying to tell me. It doesn't matter though, they're here with me, I love you, I try to speak, they just smile and continue looking at the clouds.

"I lo-" my voice caught in my throat as I watch the clouds turn dark and merge together into some kind of wolf. It dashes our way and chews father on the shoulder. In a moment, the short happiness I had was torn as I witness my father being eaten alive. Blood splashes everywhere, mom is screaming, I didn't even have enough time to reach for her before she too disappeared into the monster's mouth. A pair of large crimson eyes stared at me as I fall to my knees in terror, then it came at me with it's mouthful of razors, engulfing me in darkness.

I started, eyes shooting open, only to see the beast still there above my head, it's claws holding me down on the bed. My mouth opened but nothing came out, I was screaming only in my head. It watched me with blue eyes instead, they were so alive and intelligent, yet taunting and mocking. Don't be afraid Nate, I heard a voice that wasn't my own entered my mind, I am Mihael, the demon of hell's fire, I've served your ancestors for centuries, and now my loyalty is with you. Suddenly the beast's body vanishes into flames, and underneath that appears a young man, dressed as black as the night but hair as fair as the morning sun.

It stared down at me with its blue gaze, something about them seem wrong, it was like he was looking at a good meal. "Finally," he breathed in my ear, voice deep and dangerous, "I've been starving…Why do you smell so delicious?" Before I could respond, a pair of lips lock on mine, but I couldn't fight back, it was utterly repulsive, not only because I was kissing a man, but because it felt like I was a dish being tasted. It felt as if something had opened inside me and he was sucking it out slowly, slowly…

* * *

I promise to finish this, enough said. Please Review if you want more, suggestions are always welcomed :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I saw dad again. He sat near the opened window mumbling something incessantly. There was a frightening aura about him, so much so that I was afraid to go any closer. I just stood and watched his back, listening to his jumbled words until I make out the word 'please'. Then louder and louder, over and over, please, please, please, please, please…

"D-ad?" I choked and he turned abruptly, a knife in his right hand and a bloodied left arm, still saying 'please' repeatedly.

I jerked, screaming myself awake, panting like a madman when I realize everything was just another awful nightmare. Sighing, I lay my head on my knee and took in deep breaths until my heart beat normally again.

"Feeling better?" I jolted and back up against the wall at the familiar voice. It's still here! Am I still dreaming? "No, you're not," he answered, making me shudder, it can read minds! "Only because you make it so easy to," it smirked, walking from the other end of the room over to me.

"S-Stop!" I manage to snap myself out of my trance, "Don't come any closer!" To my surprise it did stop, eyes calculating me. Suddenly my mind had a brainstorm and the table lamp next to me went flying at the creature, only to shatter into pieces as it went through it like it was thin air. It's blue eyes had an amused glint in them as he watch my dumbfounded expression.

"Near!" L came bursting into the room, he looked at me then at the broken lamp then back at me again. "What happened?" He asked cautiously. I looked at him, completely agape, mentally shouting, do you not see that 'thing' standing right in the middle of the room? I looked back at the place where it was previously standing and suddenly there was nothing there but broken glass.

L and I exchange equally puzzled glances at each other. "Are you alright?" he asked slowly. I didn't know how to answer him. Tell him you're fine, I heard a voice tell me, it wasn't my own but for some reason I felt compel to do as it says. "I'm fine," I answered robotically. "Are you sure? What about …that?" L eyed the smashed lamp suspiciously. Make an excuse, it voiced. "I saw a…lizard." This only made L raise an eyebrow, a thumb to his lip, obviously trying to put the clues together to see if they made sense. Being the investigative type that he is, lying to L and getting away with it would be a success worth boasting about.

"You're not feeling…ill?" he paused, "Do you need to see a doctor?" something in his tone suggested something I didn't want to hear. I'm not sick, not _THAT_ way. "If you need…" He stopped himself, I suppose my falling face must've been noticed. The entire room fell silent for what seemed like decades before he spoke again, "Well, just make sure to clean it up, I don't want you hurting yourself on the glass." I nodded obediently and he walked out, stopping at the door for a moment, "If…" he started but quickly changed his tone, "I'll be downstairs."

I listened to the sound of his footsteps down the stairs until it disappeared before breathing again. Slightly relieved but not completely relieved. Alright Near, I told myself, completely in control now, use your head, how are you going to handle this? And my mind went on a 360 degree rotation, questions popping, solutions spurring about, some accepted, some eliminated and conclusions drawn. I sighed, having now analyzed my situation in a way that seem feasible. I went to the door and locked it.

"Where are you?" I spoke steadily, looking right at the middle of the room, ordering it to come out. "Right here," it appeared in front of me, not in a puff of smoke or slowly morphing itself from out of nowhere, it just appeared, as if it was there the all along. "W-what are you?" I mumbled in a dazed voice, to be honest, this creature made my curiosity itch, everything it does defies all laws and logic, and it simply amazes me.

I already told you, my mind was intruded upon again. "Stop that!" I hiss in annoyance, "My mind isn't your toy." "I'm sorry" it said, it sounded sincere even though it was smirking. "I'll answer your questions but first," the glass on the floor was the main subject again, in a split second it vanished into nothing. I blinked wide-eyed, yet another impossible was made possible right before me.

"Sit," it beckoned me as he sat himself down on the floor where the glass was earlier. I hesitated, my mind tackling at all the angles to predict where this could take me. Is it safe? "I won't bite," it answered, "I promise." Please stop calling me 'it' and I won't enter your head, the voice in my head surfaced. "Fine," it's so irritating to have someone penetrate my defenses like child's play.

"So," I began, "What are you?" I remembered last night which felt like a dream a long time ago, he had said his name was Mihael and that he was a demon? I heard it, but how can I believe something so absurd?

"My name is Mihael, the demon of hell's fire, from the sixth pit of the underworld. I've been in your family for centuries, providing service and protection. And in return, your ancestry have fed me unfailingly," he stated as a matter of fact.

"What do you mean by feed you? What do you eat?" I asked, gulping silently, afraid of what I might hear.

"I eat other demons or humans, either flesh or blood," I tried my best to stay calm despite hearing him say those unnerving words without any emotion or remorse, he definitely isn't human, that I'm sure.

"I'm sorry," he continued, "Sometimes…there's a certain something in a few people, and this is highly rare, they have something inside them that feeds me as well…" he paused and watched me carefully, I know I must look like a terrified mouse right now but I needed to know, "…Like you…Last night…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to feed on you."

It…He…fed on me? My head started to spin, it was too much and I blacked out.

* * *

Thank you for your follows, favs and of course wonderful reviews, truly encouraging. I'm surprise to hear that this story sounds like another anime, I really hope I don't do some bad plagiarism thing. Anyways, please continue to support my work if you believe in me :) (P.S. this story might be a little slow because I'm taking my time to develop the plot, please be patient with me)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

I saw myself that night.

"Here boy," I reached, crouching down to level with the grass, "Don't be scared, I won't hurt you." I urged the frightened little thing with the last small bit of my sandwich, hoping it would earn its trust. But it didn't pay any heed to the ham and bread, its large and terribly adorable black eyes fixated on me, as if I was the only thing it wanted.

"Here boy, come," I tried and it came obediently. I couldn't help but giggle at its cuteness, being six, anything fluffy is definitely a head-turner. It sat quietly in my arms as I patted it gently with my short stubby fingers, still new and awkward at handling another living thing.

"I'm going to call you..." I thought for a while, my tongue sticking out between my canines, "Mello" I whispered finally into the puppy's tiny flattened ears. I was pleased with the name because it was an abbreviation for watermelon which was my favourite fruit and in my six year old mind's perspective, nothing else would be more perfect.

I walked back home like a thief, sneaking around the bushes and walls, all while keeping my new friend hidden under my shirt. Cartoons always showed that parents wouldn't let kids have pets unless they were responsible enough, and who is to say my parents won't do the same, but I was hoping they would get around it if I secretly took care of it for a week maybe then they would see I could be responsible and handle another life.

Mom was vacuuming, which is perfect, it would be much simpler to sneak in without getting noticed. Mello must've gotten the hint too because it was being awfully still under my shirt. But dad was eating at the table and he saw me cradling my shirt suspiciously.

"What is that under your shirt?" Dad asked straight-forwardly. And Mello popped up at my collar to answer his question. I gulped and blushed, knowing that I've gotten myself in trouble. "..." I started with some muttered gibberish, unable to find my words in my defence of suddenly being caught. I looked down at Mello and he peeked out of my shirt at me. The chair creaked against the floor as dad got off his seat. I dared myself to look him in the face and regretted it immediately. I've never ever seen dad so angry before, and usually he wouldn't even get angry at me or mom, he only ever gets riled up because of his business.

"GET OUT!" Dad yelled for the first time at me. He grabbed my shirt fiercely, sending Mello to the ground. "NO DADDY!" I begged, chasing after the pup.

"Near stop!" Mom and dad yelled behind me, but I didn't care, I just kept running, afraid of falling behind and losing its tracts.

"Mello, come back!" tears ran down my face, "Come back! Please come back!" I ran, crying and hiccupping painfully.

"Near!" My parents yelled after me.

"Mello, please!"

"NEAR!"

I gasped, air suddenly rushing through my head as if I just held my breath for a very long time under water. My body shook as I look at a pair of black eyes rimmed with dark circles, worry filling them.

"Oh, thank god," L breathed and let go of my shoulders slowly. I sat myself up completely as L dug his pocket and magically got out a sweet to eat. I felt as if aliens had abducted me the previous night, suddenly everything seemed foreign. "Here" L offered a candy, I didn't quite like sugary snacks, but L was too worried and I was too light-headed, so I took it anyways.

"I thought you were in a coma," L said, finishing his candy. I looked at him quizzically. "You weren't waking up, not even when I shook your shoulders." I didn't say anything, mainly because I wasn't sure if what I said would make him feel better or worse, so I settled with an apologetic look.

A long silence filled the room. Then the corner of his lips turned into an amused smile, "I almost splashed you with water," I looked at him, and both of us broke out in a laugh.

"Alright, you better get ready before you're late," L got up and headed for the door.

"Late?"

"Yeah, for school"

Oh my god! I looked at the clock, I had exactly fifteen minutes to make myself look presentable and miraculously make my way to school in time.

In the end I went to school without bathing, but at least I brushed my teeth and somewhat combed my hair. I arrived with L driving like mad behind the wheels, and reached at exactly 7:59:29 am, which leaves me with thirty seconds to run the living daylights out of my non –existent muscles to class. And I would've made it too if I hadn't tripped and almost broke my patella, tibia, fibula, femur, tarsal, and a few other bones in my hand. But for that to happen, I would've had to predict that the floor outside my classroom would be wet at 8:00:10 am, which is humanly impossible as far as I know.

"Absent," Mr. Kayne looked at me with his snake-like eyes, through his lowered glasses, a disapproving look. Of course I had to be twenty milliseconds late for the class which the teacher arrives fifteen minutes before class and if you're not there five minutes before the bell than you're as good as being not there at all.

My face burned as I stood next to the door, waiting for Sir to finish taking attendance and allow me out of the 'corner of shame' and let me sit in my place. Sir was really strict, so there weren't soft debasing murmurs spun about from the other students, but I could see it in their faces that they were laughing at me. Plus the fact that I fell just now, and I'm sure I made a loud mortifying thud when I did. This has got to be the most humiliating moment of my life.

And then the door slammed in my face, or more like my back.

"Oh shit!" an unfamiliar voice spoke, "I'm SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY!"

I rubbed the back of my head, checking if my skull was still intact and I wasn't suffering from internal bleeding of any sort. I peeked through my scrunch up expression of pain at the offender. It was a kid that I've never seen before. But he really was something to look at. Hair a bright orangey red, a pair of baggy jeans that Mr. Kayne hates, some prison-striped shirt and goggles? In my book, only two kinds of people wear goggles, swimmers and aviators. I didn't think people walking on dry land would need to wear them, and his was tinted orange too. But somehow he still looks put-together, more so than myself. All I've ever worn is pastel and plain white tees.

"Hey, you okay?" the new guy tried to peer at my face hidden under my long bangs. I squinted at him and nodded. "Phew! I thought I killed someone on my first day!" he laughed and the whole class laughed along. You just know that he'd be the popular type.

"Ahem!" Mr. Kayne coughed rather loudly, "To your seat Nate," I nodded and made my way over to my seat with my head hung low. "And detention at three!" I blushed so hard my face must've turned purple.

Sir then turned to the other boy, "And who are you?" I secretly thanked having the new kid to take some of the attention off me.

"Matt Jeevas, please to meet you!" He introduced enthusiastically, giving a curtsy to Mr. Kayne and the students. "I just transferred," he smiled cheerfully at us, "It's nice to meet everyone." The class clapped, some of his lively spirits rubbing off on my classmates, I could already see some girls giving him a look. He was attractive enough I would say. Sir however just stood in his spot, arms crossed and wearing that same gloomy expression, looking like a character from one of Tim Burton's movies.

"Here's my letter," the new guy called Matt said, a little more serious. Sir took the letter and read it carefully, all while eying this 'Matt' character, finally folding and placing it on his table.

"Fine," Mr. Kayne sighed, "The seat next to Nate is empty," Sir glanced at the table next to mine with his serpent eyes. "Take your seat and stop disrupting my class."

"Yes Sir!" Matt gave a rigid salute and sat himself down, all while holding a wide smile in place.

"Oh and detention at three for you too," Sir ended with a sinister smirk.

* * *

_Detention..._

Dear God, this has got to be the Mother of all bad days. I sat uncomfortably in an empty seat close to the door, so that I could run out as soon as this was over. I was feeling bizarrely jittery, my forehead and palms getting uncharacteristically sweaty, all in all I felt very unlike myself, which fits the fact that I've never actually been detained before. I pulled my collar higher to hide the obvious embarrassment written on my face.

"Knock knock," Matt poked his head into the room, giving a goofy smile to the teacher who just nodded not looking at him. The new guy handed his detention slip to the teacher and looked around the class for a while. Suddenly he spotted me and the table behind me which just happens to be unoccupied. The alarms in my head were going crazy. Oh no, please don't sit behind me!

But alas, fate was cruel to me again. "Hey," he whispered and poked my back, which made me instinctively retract away. I merely nodded, not turning around to look at him. We were sitting next to each other for the whole day today in class, hadn't he had enough of me already? Being around him just made me feel queasy, his perky personality and that constant big smile, he was so different from me. But what really throws me off is the Shadow he was carrying, I was sure it was with him and then it disappeared suddenly as if it saw me looking at it.

"Psst!" He whispered louder, I had no choice but to turn around and shushed him before he gets both of us in even bigger trouble. I gave him an angry look and he grinned at me in return. It was childish but somehow it made me smile. He was one heck of a world class joker.

The rest of detention went on rather quietly, I kept hearing some sort of tapping sound from behind, but I didn't think turning around would be a good idea, I didn't want him thinking I was actually paying him any attention, especially since he seemed to have taken quite an interest in me, although I hoped that was just me being insecure.

_Ring..._

Free at last! I cheered internally, my bag already over my shoulders. "Hey," someone tug my bag, I turned around and knew the face I was going to meet, "You're Nate right?" the redhead asked.

"My friends call me Near," that was a pretty weird thing to say considering I didn't actually have any 'friends'. Heck, that nickname was just something L fooled around with as a kid and it just happened to stick. It's a funny story that I don't find very funny.

"Oh...Near..." he slurred, "so you know I'm kinda new.."

"Yeah?"

"And you're kinda sitting next to me..."

"Yeah?" I asked carefully, not knowing where he was going with this conversation.

"So..." he paused and took a deep breath, "Doyouwannacomeovertomyhouse?" He said all at once quickly.

"Huh?"

"I said DO YOU WANNA COME OVER TO MY HOUSE?" he repeated clearly this time.

"Uh..." Oh shoot! Oh shoot! "Yeah!" I answered without thinking. When it finally sank in, I just blinked and felt awfully confused as to why I agreed, but Matt was already dragging me down the hall and walking towards the streets.

* * *

"Tada! Home sweet home!" He presented. It felt emptier than it should have and strangely the house echoes giving it a haunting feel. "My mom's always working late, so we can hang and chill. Come on, I'll show you my room," he ushered me through the house.

His room was filled with CDs, magazines, a few text books, a tv and Xbox, and a lot of boardgames, puzzle pieces scattered here and there. Every surface of visible wall was covered with posters up till the ceiling which also had a large poster from some kind of video game. There was one of an anime girl with really large breast and not enough clothes to cover certain parts that should've been covered. I blushed, so this is what a typical teenage boy's room looked like.

Suddenly I didn't know what I should do. What did it mean to 'hang out'? I realize I hadn't a clue on how normal people spent time together. It's not like I intentionally wanted to be an antisocial, but it's so difficult to be around people when there's a Shadow lingering over them.

"So," Matt's voice brought me out of my trail of depressing thoughts, "What do you like?" he asked. I raised an eyebrow. "Games I mean, racing, killing, shooting? Or maybe dress up games?" He joked, making me pout but easing the tension a little.

I looked around the room a little more, suddenly taking notice of two Rubix cubes on the desk. "Are you any good?" I asked, pointing to the cubes. He follows where I'm pointing to and grins confidently, "Only the best. Wanna have a bet?"

"Sure," I smirked too, thinking about what to bet.

"If I win, you gotta buy me lunch tomorrow," He bets.

"Cool," I agreed, "And if I win, um...you take off your goggles for me." I wonder if that's a rude request since we only just met, but I'm genuinely curious to know what he looks like without it.

"Sure, that's easy," He nods, and I feel relieved.

Our bet was best two out of three. We'd each mess up the colours of the other's cube, then whoever manages to put the cube back in order in the shortest time wins. It was suppose to be just a simple game of best two out of three, which turned into best three out of four, best four out of five...best eight out of nine.

"Ok, this is the last one, no more," Matt panted, still smiling. I nodded and we immediately started twisting and turning again, fingers sometimes faster than the cube would permit itself to be rotated. Matt was good, I'll admit that, I haven't met anyone who could match up with my speeds since dad, but even I surpassed him, my sifu a long time ago. No way I'm losing this, no way, no way...

"Done!" I exclaimed, raising my finished piece in my right hand victoriously.

"What? Aw man," I looked at Matt's cube, a tiny red box amongst a field of green, just two moves from completion. "Okay fine, you win," He sulked.

"No hard feelings?" I asked nervously, afraid to have upset him, it was suppose to be just a friendly game, I didn't want it to turn sour.

"Course not, I had fun," He grinned. "You've won fair and square. So now..." His hands went to lift his goggles and pulled it down so that it rested around his neck. "Feast your eyes on my awesome sexiness!"

I was stunned. His eyes were so green, the exact same colour as...I couldn't breathe.

"Dude! What's wrong!" he yelled frantically, hands gripping my arms tightly, those familiar green eyes still locked on me as I lost myself to the sounds of wheezing.

* * *

So, there you go, I'd like to think that that was a fairly long chapter. Really hope you guys will continue to enjoy this story and please continue to support my work. I welcome any suggestions. Thank you :)

P.S. One of my stories was taken down due to some kind inappropriate content, I don't really remember which story, but if anyone has any problems with my stories, please send me a message first before actually reporting it, so that I have a chance to save the story down or make changes before it gets permanently deleted. Thank you.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

My eyes were sealed shut, but consciousness was slowly returning to me as my heartbeat became louder and louder in my ears. Lubb, Dup, Lubb, Dup, Lubb, Dup...

Wait, that isn't my heartbeat! My eyes shot open abruptly and I was greeted with horror and blood. Under my feet lay bodies, amputated, decapitated, surrounded by pools of blood.

"Help…" An arm reached up from what was left of half a man.

I backed up slowly, my legs stiffened with fear. Tears started prickling at the corner of my eyes as my breath became shallower and uneven.

"This is a dream, wake up," I said out loud, trying to convince myself, closing my eyes tightly, shutting off this dreadful world. "I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming…" I kept repeating, wishing I would just open my eyes and take myself out of this hell.

"Near…" I looked up at the person that called me, shaking to the bones.

"Dad?" I trembled, looking at the figure. His clothes were clean, and he was otherwise unharmed, a pair of loving green eyes watching me. "Dad!" I smiled genuinely, tears streaming down. I wanted to run up to him, hold him, tell him how much I've missed him, tell him to stay with me.

"No Nate," a soft voice came from behind me, an arm wrapping around my waist and a hand over my eyes just in time to shield me from seeing my dad being sucked into a large wind turbine.

"Dad!" I screamed, my heart wrenching as I cried and held on the hands that had sheltered me.

"It's alright Nate, you are safe," a voice soothed and a hand came to stroke the back of my head.

"Dad.." I whimpered, feeling the comfort of being held after so long.

I cried for what felt like a long time until all my emotions became dry. Slowly and reluctantly I let go of the person who was my comfort, only to be disappointed by the face I saw.

"You!" I pointed accusingly, wiping my face of tears, suddenly feeling sick that I exposed my fragile side to a beast.

"Yes, me?" he raised an eyebrow, "Were you expecting someone else?" He smiled, trying to look amused but somehow unable to hide the obvious hurt from my reaction.

I tried to think who I was expecting, L maybe? I'm not sure, but I certainly wasn't expecting a demon to come to my rescue.

"I'm sorry Nate, I just wanted to protect you," he reached over, touching my face. I quickly slapped his hand away and back up against the wall defensively.

"Don't touch me!" I yelled. He sighed, moving to the other corner of the bed to give me the much needed space.

"Why are you here?" I demanded.

"It's my duty to look after you," He answered simply, looking at me in the eyes, his electrifying blue gaze sending shivers down by spine.

"I don't believe you, what do you really want?" I didn't waver, looking at those azure eyes confidently.

"Why don't you believe me?" suddenly his face was inches away from mine, those blue eyes fixed on me, but they looked kind and tender. "Why don't you trust me?" he questioned, "You trusted Mello so easily." His blue eyes started to darkened, the shades changing until it was black like the puppy I found so many years ago.

"If you can't trust Mihael, can you trust Mello?" His eyes switching back to blue again, "I heard you calling out to me."

"I-" my words caught in my throat, completely mesmerized by his ocean eyes.

Suddenly, he closed the small gap between us and pressed his lips to mine. I couldn't move no matter how hard I tried, my lips being parted by his tongue which swiftly entered my mouth. His hand went under my shirt, touching my abdomen and ribs. I can't believe what was happening to me, or that I was allowing something like this to be done to me but I couldn't move at all. I knew I was going to be made a human meal again.

With as little sense as it started, he suddenly pulled away, surprise written across his face. Surprise? Shouldn't that be me? But what is this strange feeling I'm having?

"I'm sorry," He apologized, moving away again, "I don't know why I did that." For some unfathomable reason, those words hurt me.

"Are you hungry?" I asked cautiously, not really ready for the answer.

"Yes, but…" He paused, thinking, "I've never been like this, not even when I was starving badly. I always had some sort of control." Then he fell silent, thinking to himself, realization quickly adorning his features.

"It's because of you," He frowned.

"Me? What do you mean?" I surprised myself by reaching over and touching his shoulder.

"You draw me in," He answered, but it felt like he was hiding so many things from me.

"I don't understand," I really didn't.

"Maybe…" He paused, "Maybe it's because you're part of me."

"What?" My eyes grew wide.

"Nate," he said softly, cupping my face in his hands, "Would you like me to tell you the truth?"

"About what?"

"About your parents, about you. I can do so many things for you. If you let me, I could make all your dreams come true," His face came closer and closer making it difficult to breathe.

"Tell me the truth," I leaned further into his touch, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Haven't you ever wondered why your hair is white?" he whispered into my ear, running his fingers through my curls.

"Near, are you awake?" A knock came on the door. I turned around and Mello was gone. L walked in, wearing a small smile. "Hurry up and get dressed, your friend is waiting for you downstairs."

My friend? But L had already turned and left before I could ask.

_Downstairs…_

Matt was waiting at the dining table, playing his PSP. "Hey there buddy!" He beamed, "How are you feeling today?"

"Okay I guess," I tried to make my voice flat even though my face was already starting to burn. Yesterday was a disaster. I remember going over Matt's place, and we had a bet which I won, and then he took of his glasses, and I…

"I can't believe you fainted," Matt teased. I coughed, choking on the water I was drinking, adding to my embarrassing moments. This is the first time I actually feel like I have a chance at being normal and having a friend, and I'm making a complete fool of myself every time.

"I never knew I was SO HOT," he winked, nudging me in the elbow which made me blush even more.

"N-No, that's not what happened!" I stuttered, wishing I could dig a hole and bury myself in it.

"So what exactly _DID_ happen?" L walked in, his expression was unreadable, but I hoped he wasn't mad about what happened yesterday. "It would've been nice if you could've called and say where you were or that you were going to be late at least." Okay, L was definitely angry with me.

"Ooh, looks like you're in trouble," Matt whispered, a hand covering one corner of his mouth.

"Sorry L," I apologized, concentrating on my empty cup while I twirled a lock of my hair nervously.

"Are you sure you're fine?" L sat at the table, across me, stirring a cup of tea as he place three cubes of sugar in. His deep black eyes studied me, it was hard to not feel like a criminal under his gaze.

"I'm fine, there's nothing to worry about," I lied, hopefully it wasn't noticeable.

"Okaaaaay," Matt interrupted the awkward atmosphere, "we better get going before we're late again." He picked up his bag pack and thanked L for the juice. I had to go upstairs to get my bag, I was disappointed to see that Mello was nowhere to be found again, but school was waiting, and I didn't have time to wallow over handsome mythical demons.

Matt and I walked to school together, it was something I never thought I would experience, to have a friend, who'd accompany me like this, and we only just met a day ago. I can't believe I didn't freaked him out by fainting.

"You totally freaked me out you know." Oops, I spoke too soon.

"I'm really sorry Matt," I said, looking at the sidewalk.

"Your cousin was really worried too."

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry."

"But he's a nice dude, gave me lots of candy," Matt smiled as he spoke and played his PSP at the same time.

"Why'd you faint anyways?" he asked, looking at me through the corner of his eyes, which thankfully are partially hidden under his goggles.

"I'm not sure, not enough sleep maybe."

"Oh…" he slurred, "I thought it was because I had some magic eye laser that could make people hyperventilate and faint," he teased, laughing. I winced, feeling painfully embarrassed, not only did I faint but I hyperventilated as well. I don't even want to know what he must be thinking about me now, the kid who hyperventilated and fainted!

"You probably should eat more, you're too thin." He patted me on the head. "Hey your hairs pretty soft for bleached hair," he commented, ruffling my hair.

"No, that's my natural hair."

"Really? But it's white."

"That remains a mystery to me still," I answered, remembering what Mello had said earlier and all the other things other people used to say about me because of the way I looked.

"_Are you sure he's your son? Look at him, he looks nothing like you!"_

"_Your parents probably picked you up from an orphanage somewhere!"_

"_I bet you'll melt like snow if you stand in the sun for too long!"_

"It's pretty," Matt's word broke me out of my thoughts, he was still messing with my hair. Suddenly he had two hands cupping my face, "You're pretty." Heat quickly shot up to my face, but he soon let go of my face and continued walking as if nothing abnormal had happened. Where the heck is your head at Near! I scolded myself for getting carried away.

It was hard to pay attention in class with so many things running about in my head. I kept thinking about my strange dreams, about Mello and our kiss, and then inevitably thinking about my parents again. I quickly tried to close those emotions by focusing on what the teacher was saying. When that didn't work, I settled with staring at Matt playing his game under the table. He was really something else, no matter how absorbed he was in his game, he could answer every question the teacher asked him. And since he was new, he was the target of most of the teachers, who were most impressed with the new kid who had the brains as well as the looks.

"You're really awesome Matt," I praised after he finished a fairly difficult math question.

"Yeah, can you imagine those teacher's who held me back for a year? Clearly they were just jealous because I was a genius," He faked a sigh.

Held back for a year? Does that mean he's older than us? But I didn't dare to ask something so sensitive. It's hard to think Matt would ever fail a test with his sort of intelligence.

_After school…_

"Bye!" I waved off to Matt as he stepped up his front porch.

"See you tomorrow!" He waved back.

I continued walking back home, still very distracted thinking about Mello. Is it me or is it getting darker? I turned around, shock to see the largest Shadow I've seen yet. Before I could scream, it had it's hands wrapped around my throat with an iron grip, choking me. I scratch and claw at it but my hands just pass through it like air.

HELP!

Suddenly, another Shadow appeared, in the shape of a hound, biting the other's arms off. It collapsed to the ground, vanishing into nothingness.

"Mello," I called out instinctively. The shadow burst open and out walked a tall blonde. He looked very tired somehow.

I haven't even taken two steps towards him when something pulled itself out of the ground, a shapeless shadow. It took a swipe at Mello, and the next thing I saw was red, bloody pools of it.

"MELLO!" But he was already up, although a little hunch, fire all around him, scars started appearing on his left arm.

"Stay back!" He yelled at me. The heat from the fire was so intense, it attacked the other shadow, engulfing it in flames. In a split moment, the shadow was gone and so was the fire.

I didn't care anymore, I ran up to him. He was covered with blood, even his blonde hair was stained, but the worst part has to be his face, there was suddenly a large scar on the left side of his face. Strangely, the longer I watch it, the less severe it seemed, it looks as if it was fading away.

"Mello?" He looked at me weakly, his smile unable to break through before he fell to his feet. I quickly caught him from hitting the concrete ground, my heart pounding so hard I thought I was going to get another panic attack.

"Mello?" I shook his shoulder lightly, afraid of causing more injury to his wounds, which were gushing blood out dangerously, the sticky red liquid pouring on me, making me feel incredibly frantic.

"Mello!" I was crying now, watching his breath become very slow and all the color leaving his face.

* * *

Wow, I can't believe I made it until chapter 4, I was seriously starting to doubt my skills. Anyways, I hope this chapter was interesting, please support this work, I hope I can make it till the end. Thank you :)


	5. Chapter 5

Warning! Contains Mature Content!

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Dead. He was dead. He wasn't moving, he wasn't breathing, and his heart has stopped, I suppose by definition, he couldn't be anything else but dead.

I covered a hand over my mouth to stop the impulse to scream and wail, even my tears seem to freeze with his motionless heart.

"Mello?" I called his name for the umpteenth time, wishing he would answer it. My hand rested on his colorless cheek, it was cold as ice.

Watching his still, peaceful face and the pool of blood starting to dry around him, I suddenly felt very small, a useless person who couldn't do anything when it mattered most. I couldn't call the ambulance, what would I tell them? How can I explain what happened to him? And he's a demon, would he even respond to human treatment?

Then it hits me. He's a demon. He needs only one thing-to be fed.

I bit down on my bottom lip as hard as I could until I drew out blood. Slowly, I bent myself to meet my chapped lips with his pale ones. Once I had my lips pressed against his, I realize I had no idea how to do this. This was only my third kiss and the first one I'm actually initiating, and my mind shrank in bashfulness. Tentatively I parted his lips with a shaky finger, and sloppily tried to get some of my blood into his mouth using my tongue. Nothing could be weirder than what I was doing now, feeding a demon my blood.

Slowly, I felt some heat radiating from his lips, and he started to breathe silently. I must've bit my lip quite harshly because I could still taste blood in my mouth, but the idea seemed to be working. Gradually his lips moved ever so slightly to allow me better access of his mouth. I was about to get up and find a way to draw more blood out of myself when a hand suddenly yank me down again, smacking me into a pair of lips in a deep painful kiss.

Suddenly my back was against the ground, I don't even remember moving. My eyes widen at the strong blonde laying on top of me, his face was still peaceful as ever, eyes closed as he continued his burning kiss. My insides hurt, and my wind pipe squeezed for air in a way that was unbearable. The repulsive metallic taste of blood made my head spin, and I realize then that it wasn't coming from my torn lip anymore but spilling out through my throat from my insides. I choked on my own blood, coughing and writhing. Blood was spilling out of my mouth and nose as I pushed him and fought to stay alive.

Breathing was becoming impossible and white spots were starting to appear in my vision. With every ounce of remaining strength I had, I screamed, although it came out as a strange gurgling sound. Blue eyes snapped awake at me before I lost consciousness again.

* * *

"Nate," a soothing voice called, and a hand stroke my cheek. I wanted to get up and hold that warm hand, but for some reason my eyelids were so heavy to lift. There was a small laugh. "It's alright, you can sleep if you want."

I drifted in and out of sleep for what felt like hours. I can't remember when was the last time I slept like this, till the point where I was actually satisfied. Slowly though, I opened my eyes, not stirring awake, but waking up feeling well rested. The face that greeted me was welcomed with open arms this time. I reached up and lay my hand over his chest, feeling his heart thudding underneath his leather vest. I smiled to myself in relief.

Lazily I sat myself up, taking notice of the emptiness that surrounded us. I was alarmed by the absolute barrenness around us. We seem to be in some kind of dessert, but none that I've ever seen before. Miles and miles of stretches of dry land and a flat horizon far, far away.

"Where are we?" My voice was pitched higher than I intended.

"Don't worry, we only have to be here for awhile, until your injuries heal," he explained, pulling me into a hug.

"My injuries?" I let him move me so that I was sitting in his lap.

"I managed to stop in time before I did any permanent damage," He grimaced. "But you still need treatment for the damage I did do. I already took you home and lay you on your bed and gave you some medicine, you should be fine by the time your cousin returns home."

Medicine? Demon medicine? I wonder.

"L's not at home?" That was my main concern-to not worry L.

"Yes, he has gone on a business trip for two days, which gives you just enough time to heal," He says, resting his chin in the crook of my shoulder.

"We're stuck here for two days?" Hearing that makes me want to jump to my feet and run off as fast as I can away from here, but Mello holds me down by wrapping his arms firmly around my waist.

"Shh," he shushed in my ear, making me shiver. Aren't we getting a little too cozy? But I didn't say anything, fearing that I might push him away unintentionally.

"I'm sorry I couldn't take you anywhere else. But I'm not an angel, I can't bring you somewhere better. This is the best spot I could bring you to rest your soul."

Rest my soul?

"Did you bring my parents here?" I looked up at him seriously.

"Nate…"

"Near." I corrected him, it was about time too.

"Near," he smiled, but it faded away quickly, replaced by a pained expression. "I wasn't there when they died, I don't know what happened to them or where their souls went, but I haven't seen them here."

Both of us fell silent after that, looking far off into the distance. He was lost in his own thoughts and so was I. I was disappointed honestly, that I still didn't have an answer, or something that could make sense of what happened to my parents. Missing, it's a cruel feeling, it makes the person we lost feel closer yet never able to reach out to that person, it only functions to fog and poison the mind. I entwined a finger in my hair, trying to hold back the urge to curl up like a small child and bawl my eyes out in Mello's lap.

"You said you were going to tell me why my hair is white," I steadied my voice so that my emotions didn't show through.

"I remember." His breath was at my neck. "But before I tell you that, you have to know what is the true purpose your ancestors bred me in the first place. Do you know why, Near?"

I shook my head.

"It's because I can grant wishes."

That made me turn around and look at him, he had a proud smirk on his face which made me doubt if he was telling the truth, but I let him continue anyways.

"I've granted all sort of wishes over the centuries, but none could top what your parents wished for." He paused, leaning close to my face and touching my cheek with his cheek. My heart beat like a hummingbird's wings in my chest, the suspense was torturous.

"They wished for a child."

I jumped up from his lap, turning around to face him fully. My face must've looked wild, but it was hard to contain all the confusion and realization thrashing and throwing around like an epilepsy in my head. The blonde just sat in his spot cross-legged, holding a smile that made me really want to leave a footprint in his face.

"What are you saying?" My voice was on the verge of yelling.

"Calm down Near, come lie down," He said, laying himself down on the dirt. Maybe it was the silence that surrounded us, or the look on his face, but all the boiling emotions I had in me quickly cooled off.

I laid down next to him and he pulled me close, laying my head on his shoulder. He stroke my hair soothingly. Just as I felt as if I was going to doze off, he spoke again.

"Your parents wanted a child very much. They tried for two years, went to all the doctors, took all the medicine, but nothing seemed to work."

"And then they came to you," I finished for him. "So how'd you do it?"

"It's not something I can explain in human terms. But simply put, I gave each of your parents something, and when you were half created, I put part of my energy in you so that you could be born," He explained plainly.

I closed my eyes and tried to process all the information. "Does this mean I'm your child?" I asked seriously, although it sounded very peculiar.

"No, you're definitely your parent's offspring," He laughed. "I'm not God or a divine being, I cannot create, I can only destroy. I didn't make you, but I played a very big role in it. Too big of a role actually," He frowned suddenly.

"Half of you is made of my energy."

"Is that bad?" I asked.

"It means that you're curse." My eyes grew wide, but I kept quiet so that he would continue.

"You'll go to Hell."

I thought my heart had stopped when I heard him say that. Go to Hell? I waited for him to say 'Don't be afraid Near, I won't let that happen to you' but he never did say those words. He remained quiet for a long time, his expression was indecipherable. I wanted to ask if he could take out whatever it is he put in me, so that I wouldn't be curse, but I knew if that were the case, he would've already said so or done so. In the end, silence was the only thing I heard, and his arms around me as a small comfort.

"Can I ask a question?" He asked this time. I nodded.

"What is love?"

I furrowed my eyebrows at him, confused at his question. He seemed to understand and explained. "One of your ancestors, about two hundred years ago, she said she loved me." He paused, looking thoughtful, like he was recollecting it. "Two centuries have passed, and I think I might understand it a little now, but I'm still not sure."

"What is love?" He asked again, giving me that electrifying blue gaze.

I blinked, my mind going blank. What is love? I asked myself.

"It's a feeling," I thought out loud. "It's a strong feeling for someone or something…that brings two people close together…that can give happiness.." I was also unsure myself, but it should be something of that sort.

"Then," his eye lids drooped dreamily, "Have you ever loved?"

"Yes, I loved my parents and they loved me…when they were alive," my words choked out unevenly.

He shifted until he was on top of me, his forehead against mine, looking deep into my eyes, searching for something.

"I think I love you," he said it like a question. "Do you love me?"

I gasped, taken by surprise. It was impossible to answer him so suddenly. We've just met and on the oddest circumstances. Nothing made sense, my feelings were muddled with other things. It's a question that I didn't want to find the answer to. I was perfectly fine with being alone for the rest of my life, it was safer that way anyways, at least I wouldn't feel the hurt of lost again. But those blue eyes capture me in the moment, and I didn't ever want it to pass.

He didn't need an answer, probably already reading my mind as usual. Leaning down, our lips met chastely. His soft lips made me moan and I opened my mouth so that our tongues met, twirling and dancing together. We've kissed before, but this one feels different from the previous ones. This was the kind of kiss that would lead to something else. Hot, passionate, sensual.

Gently his fingers made their way under my shirt, exploring my abdomen, tapping my ribs, tickling my sides and snaking their way over to my chest. My shirt disappeared in flames, leaving me half naked and very exposed. My hands quickly went up to his vest, trying to get it off, and get him undressed as well. He held my nipples in his fingers, tweaking and twisting.

My body was beginning to burn, arching my back and clashing into his muscular body. Carefully, as if not to frightened me, he pulled my white pants down. My underwear he allowed to burn away. I cover my face with my hands when I saw my own erection. I know it was silly, but I couldn't help feeling extremely embarrassed. First time, I suppose.

The last of his clothing burned away, leaving us completely bare to each other. Suddenly whatever possessed me and gave me the confidence to do this started to erode away and I was petrified. Mello seemed to have noticed, and gave me another deep kiss, his hand stroking my erection, making me moan into the kiss.

Suddenly, something entered me, but it wasn't completely unpleasant. I looked and saw that he had already put two fingers inside me. The third one made me wince but it was otherwise tolerable.

"This is going to hurt for awhile but then it'll feel really good, trust me," he whispered in my ear.

I prepared myself mentally for it, to lose my virginity. A sharp pain shot up my spine and I couldn't hold back the scream. Soft lips met mine swiftly, while dexterous fingers stroke my erection. Carefully, he started moving in me slowly, creating a pace that I could follow.

As it went on, I felt as if something had taken over me, leaving me sweaty and panting for more. And I realize it was lust. Overpowering and overwhelming me. I moan and twisted my fingers in his hair, moving with his ever quickening pace. Harder and faster, more and more.

"Mello!" I screamed his name, releasing all over our abdomen as he came inside me.

"I love you," he smiled and kiss me tenderly on the forehead, coming to lie down next to me. I wrapped my arms around him and rested on his chest, the rhythm of his heart lulling me into a serene slumber.

* * *

So there's chapter 5, I'm not sure if it's any good or not cuz no one's really reviewing (except for Puca), it got me a little down, but no matter, I'm still going to go on with this story and write it the way I want til the end! Anyways, still hope there's people reading this and enjoying it. Thank you.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

When I open my eyes, I was lying comfortably on my own bed in my room again. It must've been very early in the morning because the light which entered the window was blue. I went over with my blanket wrapped around me like a burrito and opened the window, breathing in the fresh cooling morning air.

"You shouldn't be moving about." The blonde beauty suddenly appeared sitting on the window sill, looking like a Greek statue, flawlessly carved. He turned to look at me, our eyes met and he flashed a snooty smile at me as if he had just read my diary and found out some secret I didn't want him to know about. Heat instantly went to my cheeks, and even though I've already gotten up from bed for awhile, I only feel awake now.

Memories flooded my mind, about the dessert we were in, about what we talked about, and about…about…

"You had quite a dream," He chuckled. Lewd images played in my head, I quickly tried to block them out because I knew he could read my mind and this is embarrassing enough as it is.

Confusion fell on me heavily. Did any of it really happen? Was it all just a dream? Did we…? Didn't we…? It had all felt so real a moment ago and now it felt so illogical. Would I have done something like that? With him?

"Don't think so hard, it's not good for you." He patted me on the head.

"Besides," He bent down so that he was at eye level with me, "Things like that shouldn't happen between us."

I looked into his eyes, they were serious and yet he looks as if he was going to kiss me. The look lingered there hesitatively, then he pulled away. My lips never felt so lonely. My entire body ache for him and I realize I wanted my dream to be true.

"Well, it's time for me to go," He said, walking towards the door.

"Where?" My voice was urgent. I wanted him to stay with me badly.

"To hibernate, of course. You don't feed me enough for me to be functioning from day to day," He stated blandly, opening the door.

"Wait!" I wanted to slap myself for sounding so desperate. "I'll feed you."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow.

I quickly scrambled through my drawers and found a penknife. Before I could even scratch my skin, Mello yanked it out of my grasp and it disappeared into nothing.

"Have you gone mad? What do you think you're doing? " He scolded me, his voice laced with shock.

"Feeding you," I answered it as if it was the most natural thing on earth.

His blue eyes were hard as he looked at me. Suddenly I'm reminded of mom, the way she looked at me when I did something wrong. My stomach twisted. In so many ways, he reminded me of their love for me.

"Near," his voice brought me back, "You really shouldn't think so much." He sighed, wiping the tears which I hadn't even notice had started to roll down my cheeks.

"Come on," He ushered, leading me by the hand out of the room.

"Where are we going?" I walked along.

"I think it's about time you learn how to feed me. Properly."

He led me to the kitchen. I stood there wondering what on earth we could be doing there. Could he ingest human food? No, if he could, he would've done so earlier and save us both a lot of trouble. I wondered if there was a trapdoor somewhere, maybe it would lead us to some secret underground room. My curiosity was killing me.

Mello turned around, his lips curled into a mischievous smirk. "Do you trust me Near?" He asked, scheming at something. I nodded warily. Suddenly he lifted me off my feet and carried me bridal style.

"What are you doing?" I wrapped my arms around his neck to steady myself.

He smiled and without a word, he ran straight toward a wall. I didn't even have enough time to yell for him to stop, only managed to close my eyes tightly and expect pain slamming into my face. But the pain never came. Cautiously I peeked an eye open and saw that we were in a room I've never seen before. It was made of wood and candles lit the room. And even though there were no doors or windows, it didn't feel stuffy. It was quite big as well. At the far end was a long table and shelves engraved into the walls. The most conspicuous item being a large book left open on a bookstand on the table.

"What is this place?" I found myself whispering.

"You don't have to whisper," Mello laughed, walking over to the table. I followed like a dog led by the leash.

"This was your ancestors' workshop," He said, looking through the pages of the opened book. Everything was peculiarly clean, not a speck of dust anywhere.

"It's magic," He answered my question knowingly. "How we came here, this room, and everything here, it's all magic."

"I thought I would wait until I'm sure that you've fully healed to do this," He said, flipping through the book and landing on a page which he must've been looking for, "But if you can get up and start swinging a knife at yourself, I suppose you're more than prepared for this."

"You are prepared, aren't you?" He tipped my chin so that I couldn't avert my eyes away from him.

I opened my mouth, but before my words left my lips, he had already let go of my face and started searching through the shelves. I glanced at the page he left opened, it consisted of a series of dots, just two full pages of strange dots.

"When Lucifer first fell from heaven, he brought an army of fallen angels with him." I turned to the blonde, curious as to why he was telling me this out of the blue. He didn't turn to face me, going through the shelves and shifting the books around while he continued his story.

"They fell like dying stars, striped away of their glory and light. The people who were there said that when Lucifer and the angels who followed him fell, there was music, so loud and sharp, like screams tearing the skies, which played endlessly through the night."

I listened, not really getting what does this have to do with anything.

"Your ancestors were one of those who heard this music. The music which tore through the earth and opened the gateway to Hell."

Suddenly the floor opened into a small square. I moved closer to see what was there. It was a small treasure box made of sturdy wood. Mello crouched down and took it out, placing it carefully on the table. It was locked so I wondered if he had the key. What he did next was bizarre for me. He whistled. And he did it beautifully.

The lock undid itself. You'd think by now I'd be use to seeing stuff like this happen, but no, again I'm in awe. This, magic if you want to give it a name, will always find a way to surprise me.

"This is your family heirloom." In his hands was a pale flute that didn't quite look like it was made of wood. It was more than a musical instrument, it was a piece of art, with intricately carved patterns of strange creatures and letters that I have no idea are of what language.

I took it with as much care as I could in my musically inept hands, hoping I wouldn't actually have to play it.

"Well?" the blonde asked, his blue eyes expectant. "Surely you're father would have at least taught you the basics."

I dug through my vast collection of knowledge, and the folder labeled music came back empty. Dad never taught me how to play the flute, in fact he never even touched the subject of music, and the same goes for mom. I always found this odd, mom and dad wanted me to excel in every aspect, even for sports which I failed hopelessly, but they still suggested chest, puzzles, poker. Never music though, I remember asking a few times to try out the piano or violin, but they said no, finally they gave the excuse that I already had too much on my plate to take up another responsibility and that was that.

"I'm sorry, but I can't play this. At all." I felt pathetic.

"Don't get so down on yourself." He consoled, ruffling my head of white curls. "It's not your fault…I suppose…It wasn't necessary since…" He didn't finish, leaving me confuse once again.

"Here," he asked for the instrument and I handed it over. "Listen closely."

He place the mouthpiece of the flute to his lips, his experienced fingers lay over a few of the holes carved on purpose into the instrument and he started to blow a tune. I didn't really listen to the music, instead I was busy memorizing the placement of his fingers, how they moved, the number of times he exhaled through and the number of times he inhaled.

It was a very haunting tune. Not like what a normal flute would sound like. When he finished playing, I had Goosebumps all over me.

"Alright?" He asked once he finished, placing the instrument in my hands again. "Don't worry, I know you can do it." He kissed me on the forehead. Do what exactly?

"Now I want you to remember a few things once you've started playing. First, you have to keep playing the same music that I just played for you over and over until I return. If not, the gateway will close and I can't come back. Second, you're going to get very tired very quickly but again, don't stop playing. Lastly, and this is the most important one. Don't. Don't let anyone or anything else besides me come through." He said as he walked towards the middle of the room which was a large empty circular space.

"Have you understood?" He turned and faced me fully. I nodded. I understood his instructions but I don't think I understood the reasons behind them.

"You'll understand soon enough," He smiled, although it looked forced somehow.

I nodded again, placing the mouthpiece to my lips. Tentatively I started to blow. The first note seem to sound right so I went for the next note. Suddenly the ground started to shake, making me stop. The ground became still again. I look to Mello and he nodded for me to continue. I played again from where I left off, and the ground shook even more violently.

"Don't stop Near," Mello urged and I played again.

The ground started to shake so aggressively that I thought the room would collapse and crash down on us, but I went on. And then the ground broke apart, it split into a large circle around Mello. Fire and heat came out of the hole, along with screams and beastly roars.

"Don't stop playing, I'll be back soon," Mello said and then the ground he stood on crumbled and he fell straight into the abyss. My heart almost stopped, but his face was so calm and sure, as if everything was going to be just fine. There was only one thing I could do-keep playing.

Mello was right. Very quickly, I was incomprehensibly tired. I don't think playing the flute is suppose to feel like a ten mile marathon, so obviously magic was involve somehow, and it was draining me.

"Near…" Someone whispered, I knew by the voice that it wasn't Mello. I look closely at the pit and there was a women standing there. No, not standing, more like floating in mid air. She had very light hair that grew to her feet and she dressed immaculately.

"Near…come here child…" Her voice was like a song, alluring me.

"Come…there's no need to play anymore…come with me.." She beckon me with one pale hand. At the back of my mind, Mello's voice was repeating itself 'Don't stop playing. Don't let anyone else come through.'

I shook my head, continuing the song, although it was softer now, I felt like I didn't even have the strength to blow anymore.

"Sweetheart…" My eyes widened. Honey brown hair, kind hazel eyes and beautiful brown skin. She was right in front of me, wearing her favorite beige dress that blended so well with her skin tone.

"Mom?" Oh no. I quickly tried to play again, but it was too late. A pair of hands wrapped an iron-grip around my throat, nails digging into the back of my neck.

"Finally…Nate River…The infamous child…Finally.. I'll be the first to taste you…" I was horrified as I stared into the hollow sockets of the previously beautiful creature. It opened it's mouth and I could see all its teeth were shaped like razors. It felt like the end and all I could think about is what an idiot I was to be fooled so easily.

Suddenly the creature was picked up by the familiar large hound again. Mello, I thought and smiled. And then the hound chewed on the smaller creature, it was screeching as I heard its bones being ground, finally it was swallowed. For some reason, even though it tried to killed me, I was disturbed to see it die. Is this how Mello feeds?

The hound shrunk like a shadow when light was brought near until there was just Mello again. He was lying on the ground groaning in pain. The hole had suddenly disappeared and I could see Mello's left leg embedded in the soil.

"Play it!" He grunted.

I got up and grab the flute that had been left on the ground when I was attacked. With my shaky fingers and hoarse throat, I played it so that the ground opened enough for Mello to pull his leg out before falling to my knees from exhaustion.

"Mello?" I called out faintly, dragging myself on all fours over to him. His left leg was completely destroyed, it looked like something pulled out of a serious house fire, charred black like coal.

"You shouldn't have stopped playing," He said weakly, having fits of coughs between pants.

"Are you going to be okay?" I thought I was going to cry looking at him.

"I'll be fine." He sat up carefully, some flesh already starting to appear between the charred places. "But today was a waste. Now all my food will go to healing my leg."

"I'm sorry…I.."

"Near!" L's voice appeared out of nowhere.

"L?" I looked around, but he wasn't there.

"Your cousin is home, he must be in the kitchen," Mello explained.

"But we're here, how can we hear him?" I asked.

"We're still in your house, just in a space that doesn't exist in normal people's reality." I didn't quite understand what he was trying to say but there were other things to worry about now.

"Near, are you home?" L's voice called, but it was softer now, I can hear his footsteps leading up the stairs, probably to my room.

"Come, it's time to go," Mello said, reading my mind.

He got up on his own, his left leg no longer charred but covered with tender red skin. He took my hand and lead me towards a wall, this time I walked right through it without hesitation.

When I returned back to the kitchen, Mello had already disappeared, just as L was walking in. Our eyes met, and a very awkward feeling dawned upon me. L's expression changed from relief to anger.

"Where have you been?" He questioned, I could hear the strain in his voice.

Matt peeked out from behind L, mouthing "I think you're in trouble."

* * *

First of all, thank you guys for the reviews for the previous chapter, it made me smile :) Secondly, I'm sorry for pulling your legs on the lemon. Anyways, I'm not really good with words, just wanna thank you for the support, and please continue to support this work. Let me know what you think, I really would love to know if you liked this chapter or this story. Matt will be coming up soon. Thanks again!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Where have you been?" L asked again, his usual cool monotonic tone breaking.

I winced and immediately dropped my gaze to the floor, feeling like I've been caught red handed even though I have no idea what I could've possibly done to make L this upset.

"Why didn't you go to school?" At this, I shot up, staring wide-eyed at him. He crossed his arms and shot back a look that spelled 'don't play innocent'.

I missed school? That's right…Mello and I were in that dessert for two days, there was no way I could've went to school during that time.

"And why didn't you answer your phone? Look at this, there's fifty eight missed calls on your phone," L said, becoming more and more frustrated. He handed my phone which he probably got when he went upstairs over to me. True enough, there's literally fifty eight missed calls, forty two from L and sixteen from Matt. I look over to Matt, he wasn't behind L anymore, but hugging the kitchen doorway and trembling, he looked frightened for some reason despite the fact that I'm the one being reprimanded.

"Thank goodness Matt was here to check up on you, and told me about this," L scolded, "what if something were to happen to you while I was away? I had to put my work on hold because you couldn't act responsibly. Your parents.." He cut himself off. The whole room fell silent.

My heart was wrenching in my chest. My parents? What was he going to say about them? I wanted to know, but my throat clogged up and my vision started to blur. I kept blinking to hold it back, these unnecessary pent up emotions, they won't do anyone any good.

"W-We should be going to school," Matt broke in, coming over to me and tugging me by the sleeves toward the doorway. I took a glance at L, he had a hand over his mouth.

"We'll talk about this when you get back," L said as we were leaving the kitchen.

I got changed quickly and we hastily left the house, making our way to school.

"I'm sorry Near," Matt apologized while we were walking. I looked at him quizzically.

"I came over so that we could walk to school as usual, but you didn't answer the door. And the house was dark. And you didn't answer your phone. I got really worried. I had to tell L. I'm so sorry. I didn't think he'd get so mad," he whimpered, almost like he was about to cry.

We had stopped walking. I'm not sure what it was, maybe it was what he said or the way he said it, but I suddenly had an impulse. The next thing I knew, I had two arms wrapped tightly around the slender redhead and a wide smile spread across my face.

"You're such a sweetheart," I muttered quietly, my face buried in his chest.

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around me slowly, I could feel him bending over so that we were at the same height. His chest heaved and hiccupped, at first I thought he was laughing then I realized he was actually crying.

"Matt, what's wrong?" I tried to look at his face but he just hugged me tighter.

"Don't look! This is really embarrassing!" He said through his sobs, but I could feel a smile coming on.

"Aw come on, don't be like this, I promise not to laugh," I didn't intent to tease him but the words just came off that way.

Slowly, robotically, he let go of my waist and got up, still wearing a pout which just made him more endearing. His goggles were half filled with his tears, waves stirred up every time he moved. Carefully I lifted his goggles up and the trapped tears flowed out like a waterfall. It was the most inappropriate thing to do at the time, but I just couldn't hold it back, I laughed. I really, really laughed, till my tummy hurt.

"Hey, you promise not to laugh," Matt pouted with bloated cheeks.

"…I'm sorry…" I said with difficulty, trying to hold back my laughter.

He grabbed the back of my neck with one arm so that I couldn't get out of his grasp and ruffled my hair. "You little rascal," he kid, and started laughing as well.

"Ok, enough enough!" I surrendered, and he freed me from his grip.

"Foo, good times," Matt regained his signature grin. "What do we do next?"

"Um, go to school?" I answered the obvious.

"What? No way, I'm soooo not in the mood for that," the redhead furrowed his eyebrows.

"Then what are you in the mood for?" I asked, placing two hands at my waist.

"Hm.." He mumbled, looking up and biting his lips, pretending to be thinking hard. "I want ice cream and bowling!" he exclaimed.

"L will kill me," I muttered under my breath.

"Oh," he seemed to have remembered we still have school. "Well, we'll do it after school then!" he piped up again, his spirits impossible to be kept down for long.

"Sure," I agreed softly, starting to walk in the direction towards school again. Matt pranced along happily.

"This is gonna be so awesome!"

School finished early due to a fire drill exercise, which was perfectly fine with me, that just leaves more time for me to spend with Matt. The two of us were the first to run out the exit, with Matt screaming like a lunatic, "Fire! Fire!" No matter how many times I tell him it's just a drill, he just wouldn't shut up.

"Everyone's staring at you," I said as we walked away from school, noticing that some of our peers were looking at us, more specifically at Matt.

"Really?" He acted clueless.

"It's because you shouted," I whispered, trying to hide under my collar.

"Oh, is it…then," he paused, placing two hands at the sides of his mouth, and yelled as loud as he could, "It's okay people! Fire's Over! I repeat FIRE'S OVER!"

"Stop it!" I hissed, attempting to cover my hand over his mouth.

"Okay, okay, I won't yell anymore, chill," he sulked, "Man, live a little."

The rest of the way to The Big Bowl was a peaceful one, with me listening to Matt yap on about firearms, how the army has some secret weapon of mass destruction they traded with aliens for, and that we should play video games because thirty years in the future we'll have to learn how to defend ourselves from dinosaurs and the only way to defeat them is coded in the games.

I didn't have the heart to tell him it sounded like a whole lot of nonsense to me because he was so enthusiastic about it, it'd be like telling a kid there's no Santa. That and also, I don't exactly have the right to object considering I'm some sort of demon keeper.

"Hey Near, are you listening?" Matt caught my attention as I was putting on my sneakers. "I'm telling you, Mr. Kayne is Professor Snape from Harry Porter, you gotta believe me!"

"I do…" I mumbled, tying my shoelaces. I stood up looking around, feeling quite confused since the last time I was at a bowling alley was when I was eight with my…well, lets not go there.

"Number two..." Matt said to himself, searching the lower deck. "There it is." He pointed towards one of the booth and we walked over.

"If you don't mind, I wanna go first," He said, stretching his arms and prepping himself up. By all means, he could go first, because I'm a total newbie.

I watched him skid along the wooden approach and make a graceful twirl just before the foul line and released the ball with one smooth sure movement. The ball rolled very fast and very straight, hitting the pins in a clear bulls-eye. The redhead cheered, sliding backwards on his feet with his little moonwalk and pulling a few robot moves, catching some girls' attention from the other booths. I clapped too, feeling extremely envious, Matt was just effortlessly cool and funny, while I'm….me.

"I didn't know you could dance," I said as he sat down next to me.

"I'm a man of many faces, don't cha know?" He said with some fake Norwegian accent, pretending to be tugging on a nonexistent mustache. "Dance, bowl, you name it, and I'll do it," He winked, which made my heart skipped a beat, imagine what it would do to a girl.

"Anyways, it's your turn."

I got up and picked up a ball from the tray, it's weight making me lose my balance a bit. I then realize that my shoes weren't quite the right size, they felt loose as I walked unsteadily, ball in hand with three skinny fingers in it. Without any style or technique of whatsoever, I threw the ball and it rolled three feet before rolling straight into the gutter. Predictable, I thought, but disappointing nonetheless.

"Wow, that was bad." Matt startled me, appearing out of nowhere behind me. "Come, I'll teach you," He said, handing a ball over to me. I took with three weak fingers again and he stood behind me, making me face the pins. He had one hand over mine, and the other on my waist, moving me so that I was in the right position to make a strike.

"It's all in the wrist, you gotta give it enough oomph to make it go the way you want it to go," He said close to my ear, pulling my hand back, the weight of the ball becoming evident. With one hard push of my hand, and a quick tug on my waist, the ball was sent spinning toward the stationary pins, knocking over all ten of them.

"Score!" I cheered, breaking out of my usual passive self. I quickly tried to regain composure, hoping no one saw that uncalled for outburst. But I was too late, Matt was already grinning at me.

"Glad you're having fun," he smiled, tousling my white curls.

We continued our game until we finished all ten frames and of course Matt had a perfect score of three hundred, but I didn't do too bad myself, scoring about half of that.

"Lets go for ice cream," Matt said after returning the shoes.

"Yeah, su-" A realization suddenly hit me painfully. "I forgot to tell L that we weren't going home straight after school!" Oh no, he'll never forgive me this time.

"Chill, I got you covered, I sent him a text almost an hour ago," Matt said nonchalantly.

"Really? When?"

"Just awhile after we started bowling."

"Oh.." I calmed down then.

"Now come on, I want ice cream!" Matt grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me along.

We walked to the playground nearby. Matt said there was an ice cream man who would sell ice cream there at the same spot everyday, and has been doing so since he was just a toddler. When we reached, I got a simple vanilla ice cream cone, whereas Matt got a colorful one which I'm not quite sure what flavor it's suppose to be. We sat on the swings under the shade of some trees, getting a great view of the hilly countryside.

"Shouldn't there be more kids around?" Matt asked.

"Maybe it's because there's school tomorrow," I offered.

"No life…" He mumbled, eating his ice cream.

We sat on the swings, side by side in silence for awhile, enjoying the cool sweetness on our tongues and the orangey sun gradually growing closer and closer to the hills. For some reason though, I was agitated, it felt as if there was something I wanted to say but couldn't get out. No, I knew exactly what it was, I just couldn't keep it from Matt anymore. It didn't feel right to keep secrets from the redhead, he is after all, my friend. My heart sped up just a little from the word. Friend…finally, I have one, but I'm not being honest with him.

"Matt," I called slowly, with uncertainty, "I've got something to tell you."

"Hm?" He turned to face me, curiosity in his eyes.

And so I told him. Everything. About Mello, about the Shadows, about the secret room, the flute, the gateways that open to hell. All the while, he just listened quietly, his expression was serious, thinking hard about what I was saying.

"Well?" I asked since he was still silent.

"Well what?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Say something."

"What can I say?"

"You don't believe me," I said sadly.

"I do!" I looked at him doubtfully. "I mean you're not the kind to joke about stuff like this but…" he added.

"But what?" It was impossible to keep up my robotic voice.

"It's just that I know…" his voice hushed, looking away, "I know what it's like to lose a part of yourself."

He played with the dirt under his feet, averting his gaze from me, whereas I on the other hand was staring wide-eyed at him, holding on to every word he spoke.

"I'm sorry, I asked L about your parents. I know it's none of my business, but…I just want you to know that you're not alone," He paused, breathing hard, probably holding back tears.

"I never had a father," He whispered almost inaudibly.

Silence fell between us.

I waited for him, and once he composed himself, he spoke again with a steadier voice.

"I know it's not exactly the same thing, but it wasn't easy growing up without a dad. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom and all, but I just always felt like I was missing out on something, ya know?" He finally turned to face me again.

"And my mom's not always around, some days I get so lonely I just cry till I fall asleep." I could see his eyes become glassy even behind his goggles.

"I know what you mean," I said slowly, "I miss them. So Much. I wish…they were here…why did they leave me?…" My words were tangled with sobs.

Matt got up from his swing and knelt down in front of me, a hand on my knee. "It's okay Near, I'm here," He smiled at me even though he was crying too, "We're brothers for life!"

The way he said it was so juvenile and scout captain like that I couldn't help but break a laugh. And for the first time in three months, I felt like my burden has lightened, even if just by a little.

"Brothers?" He put out a fist. I smiled and met my fist with his.

"Brothers," I affirmed.

"Okay, so no more of this imaginary demon thing alright?" he spoke as if he was talking to a child.

"I knew it, you don't believe me!" I accused, although not in a serious manner,

"I'm sorry, how do you expect me to believe it?" He said jokingly.

"You believe in aliens!"

"Well, that's different! That's aliens not demons!" Raising his voice to match mine to fight for his point.

"I'll proof it," I said confidently. It was about time the two of them met. Besides, I need confirmation myself to see if things were actually real, for all I know, it could've been a figment of my imagination.

"Ok, ok, it's getting late, you gotta go home before L throws a fit," he tried to shrug me off.

"But I can proof it, Mello is real!"

"Fine, fine, I'll meet him another day and we'll all have tea together," He said sarcastically.

"Matt…" I whined.

"Near…" He copied me. He ruffled my hair and said with a smile, "Can we just finish today with 'brothers'?"

I blinked at him, a smile forming on my lips. "Okay, brother."

* * *

Sorry for the slightly later update! This chapter was suppose to be a quick short one but once I started I just kept on going. Anyways, next chapter I'll be going into the climax, updates might be late due to more time needed to get the plot out or becuz of a new job I might be taking up, just a warning, don't be hatin'. Reviews and loves would make my day, please leave one if you believe in the power of words! Thanks again for your wonderful support.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Someone is crying. A child. I opened my eyes slowly. A room came into view, one that I wasn't familiar with. The sun is shining through the window onto a small child sitting alone on the floor. He had his back faced towards me, heaving as he cried. His radiant red hair was brilliant under the sunlight. Just as I was reaching out to him, a sudden cold surge pulled me abruptly into the darkness.

I gasped and coughed, my heart beating loudly and rapidly from being waken up so forcefully. The water dripped down my face as I realized my hands were bound behind me, the same goes for my legs.

"What?" I looked around me, dizzy and disorientated. Moving my head suddenly made me aware of the sharp hammering pain at the back of my head. It takes a few moment for the initial shock to settle, before I could properly process that I was in my own kitchen, tied to a chair.

What happened? Did we get robbed? The last thing I remembered was walking home with Matt and then…ugh, this headache is killing me.

"Hey, you're awake." I knew exactly who that voice belonged to, I tried to turn my head as much as I could to look at him. The skinny redhead waltz over in the most carefree way until he was in front of me, he had a packet of cigarettes in his hand.

"Matt, what's going on? Untie me," I said urgently. He opened the pack of cigarettes, taking out a stick and lit it on fire with a lighter, as if he didn't heard a word I said, or maybe he just didn't care. He drew in a deep long breath of his cigarette, bending so that he was close to my face, exhaling a cloud of smoke that made me choked.

"So," His voice was deeper than usual, emerald eyes glinting without his goggles in an uncharacteristic way, he was so unlike himself right now, and it made me scared. "Where is this secret room?" he asked, walking over to a wall. "It's suppose to be somewhere here, isn't it?" He put his ear onto the wall, tapping it lightly with his knuckles. "It seems pretty solid to me." I just watched him frightfully, the way his eyes glinted was so unnerving.

Suddenly, he grabbed a chair and flung it at the wall with so much force that it broke the chair and a few small pieces of undercoat fell off the wall. "Matt!" I was so shocked that I accidentally shouted.

He turned to me, inhaling his cigarette again, I looked at him as if he was mad.

"Mattie's not here, it's just you and me now," He said slyly.

"Please Matt, this isn't funny, let me go!" I tugged at the ropes, scratching my wrist painfully as I did so.

"I'm not Matt!" Two voices spoke at once. My heart stopped, I've never heard anything so disturbing before, Matt's possessed.

"Who-What are you?" I asked shakily, chills showing all across my skin.

"My name is Sarah, Mattie's my son," it spoke with Matt's voice now, "Mattie's been telling me all about you boy."

Matt's mother? That's impossible. None of this was making any sense.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Leave Matt alone!" I struggled in my chair.

A hand met my cheek promptly, slapping me hard. I winced, tasting blood in my mouth. "Mattie's mine!" A female voice yelled back at me. "Don't tell me what I can or can't do with my son! You're just like your father! You ruined my life and now you're trying to take my son from me!"

He went over to the counter and grabbed a knife angrily. "Wait! No!" The knife went into my thigh, making me scream in pain, tears streaming down my face. She just laughed, maniacally.

"Help! Someone help!" I didn't care anymore, shouting at the top of my lungs.

I got another slap, this time harder than the first. "Shut up!" She yelled at me.

"L! Where are you! Help!" I shouted, ignoring the pain in my temple and ringing in my ear.

Suddenly the knife in my leg was roughly pulled out, making me wail in agony. Through my blurred, teary vision, I saw the bloodstained blade pressed against Matt's throat.

"Make one more sound and Mattie's going to pay dearly for it," she threatened.

I bit my lip immediately, forcing myself to keep silent. Taking deep breaths, I made myself calm down, the pain slowly becoming numb, although the wound was still bleeding.

"That's better," she smiled, taking the knife off Matt's throat.

"Now then, I think the two of us haven't properly introduced." I watch her with wide eyes, not daring to utter a sound.

"My name is Sarah, this is my son Mattie. The two of you…." She slurred, tapping the knife in her palm, "You share the same father," She spoke evenly with a smile, but I could still see her jaw tightened. Share the same father? She couldn't mean…

"That's right, I am, was your father's mistress. Surprise!" she said with sarcastic enthusiasm.

"Y-you're lying!" I accused through pants.

"Am I? Or are you the liar?" She walked closer. "Look at this face." Matt's face came close to me, I looked into his green eyes that weren't his own anymore. "He looks more like Henry's son than you'll ever be." I winced upon hearing my father's name, it was a bad as getting stabbed in the leg, but it's true, Matt did look more like him than I did. It's strange that I hadn't noticed it earlier, perhaps I was deluding myself.

"Poor Beth, couldn't get a child no matter how hard she tried. Your father had already give up when he came to me. I gave your father everything! Everything he never had! And what did he do? Walk back to your useless mother!" She yelled furiously, kicking over the kitchen table and swiping all the cups and plates to the floor. I shrunk, trying to hide myself from the outburst.

The clanking of dishes soon quieted and she was in front of me again, leaning against the wall, lighting another cigarette.

"I heard about you," she took a puff. "Heard what your parents had to do to get you. Heard you were cursed. And from what Mattie's been telling me, the stories are true."

"Wh-what do you mean?" I asked weakly due to loss of blood.

"Oh you don't know? You don't know anything don't you? You're just an innocent little boy," she hissed sarcastically, running her fingers through my hair roughly.

"Let me tell you then, a story. The story of how you were made. You see, that demon of yours, he cannot create, only divine creatures can do that. So now we have a problem? How do we solve it? Easy, we get a divine creature. That demon, he killed two angels, ripped their heart outs and fed it to your parents. That's how they did it." I gulped, feeling my mouth gone dry from what she just told me.

"Hair pure as His light, but eyes as dark as the heart of a demon. The cursed child." She looked straight into my eyes, I've never seen so much hatred in someone before.

Those intense green eyes looked down for awhile, recollecting something. Slowly, she spoke again. "I wanted to kill you and drag you down with me into Hell where I could make sure you'd suffer for all eternity together with your parents."

"Did you kill my parents?" My eyes were wide, suddenly angry.

"Oh no no no, I wanted to, but someone else beat me to the chase. I don't really care as long as justice is served." I stare at her with disbelief, unable to take in everything.

"Don't worry boy, I'll make sure you never see them again. And if by any chance we do meet them where we go, I'll just have to torture them too." She tapped the knife faster and faster in her palm.

"Now let's get back to killing you. Since you're cursed, that solves the problem of bringing you to Hell. So I'll just kill you slowly and make this as painful as I can." the knife inched towards me.

"Mello will find me!" I blurted out on impulse.

"Ha!" She laughed. "That demon?" She narrowed her eyes. "Don't you think it's strange that a demon would choose to serve you? Being treated like a dog. Fed only when food is given. Obeying your every whim. Why would he choose to live like that?" She asked.

"He wouldn't!" She spat. "A spell was put on him that's why, or he would never choose to be your little guard dog. You stole his freedom like you stole my life. He probably hates your family as much as I do." She leaned in close to my ear and whispered. "I bet he killed your parents."

My heart froze completely, nothing could undo the hurt I felt at that moment. The betrayal and pain. It's not true, I told myself, but her words were so convincing that it was hard not to be taken by them.

"Now then, you're going to take me to this room." She went around me, behind my chair, and started to push me on it towards the wall. "And you're going to open Hell for me."

"Wait, I don't think I can get through without Mello," I insisted, but the chair continued to screech across the floor.

My knee touched the wall, and suddenly it wasn't solid anymore and I was pushed through it as if it was air. We made it into the secret room, with me still tied to the chair, wondering what this possessed person wants to do here.

"Where's the flute?" She demanded.

"I don't know, Mello was the one who got it for me last time."

"Don't make me ask again." She pressed down on my wound, making me yelp, but I managed to hold back from screaming.

It wouldn't have been possible for someone else to do what I did, but because of my photographic memory, I quickly recreated what Mello did previously and got out the small chest which held my family heirloom.

"What are you planning to do with this?" I had to ask, holding on to the chest tightly.

"That's none of your concern! Now open it!" She held the knife threateningly at my neck.

I didn't know how to whistle, so I tried humming the tune, sadly, it worked.

"Play it," she said through gritted teeth.

I had a very bad feeling about where things are going, but with a knife aimed at me, all I could do is say a small prayer, hoping Mello would come rescue me somehow, and I blew.

The ground shook and the shelves rattled. At the center of the room, a portal that lead to the underworld slowly grew in circumference. The fair lady that I had seen before slowly emerge out of it. I swore that Mello had eaten her, so how could she still be alive?

"Iglot," I heard Sarah whispered over the music and howling of wind.

"Sarah…finally…" the lady with the flaxen hair spoke, her voice like a sing-song. "I've been waiting.."

"Near…" She looked to me with her gray eyes, "Listen…" She started to sing a sweet tune. "Play…" she requested when she had finished.

The knife pressing into my shoulder reminded me that I had no option. I repeated what she sang on my flute perfectly and the hole closed but she didn't return to it. With almost nonexistent footsteps, she walked over to us.

"Our agreement?" Sarah asked the lady.

"Of course…" The fair maiden held out a red rosary and placed it in Sarah's hand.

I stared at both of them, confused and terrified.

Sarah must've saw my tortured expression because she smiled gleefully at me. "Don't worry boy, your Mello will be coming soon. And when he does, I'll make him tear you to pieces."

* * *

So here you go guys, chapter 8! I really dragged out on writing this. Been kinda down lately, but hopefully I'm on the mend with better medication. Please review and let me know what you think, more goodies to come! Share the love! 3


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Her words chimed in my ears. I didn't want to picture it in my head but the images flashed across my mind before I could stop them. Mello tearing me to shreds. I didn't want to believe he would do that, that he would in his heart ever hurt me in any way, yet my faith in him was crumbling faster than I could catch the pieces.

"So how do I use this?" Sarah's voice brought me back to my cruel reality.

"Just say his name…" the fair women said softly.

"Say…" The demon's voice was like a dream, "I summon…"

"I summon," Sarah repeated.

"Mihael Keehl…"

"Mihael Keehl"

"Demon of hell's fire…"

"Demon of hell's fire."

There was silence after she finished. I knew exactly what kind of silence it was-the calm before a storm.

Suddenly everything started to move, the ground, the walls, the shelves. The room burned up, warm air blew in my face, my skin hurt from the heat that surrounded us, it felt like we were in a oven, being cooked alive.

A loud roaring bark like thunder shook the room, my heart jumped and I started to tremble involuntarily. The corner of the room became dim all of the sudden. Darkening and darkening, taking a form of the large hound that I've seen before this.

It seemed larger now. Its fur like spikes, and claws showing dangerously. Steam came out of its nostrils and a low growl emanated between its gritted teeth. But it was its murderous red eyes that cause me to really become frantic. This wasn't my Mello anymore.

"Kill him!" Sarah ordered sternly.

I watched the beast struggle in the chains around its neck, shaking its head from left to right, obviously fighting against the order. I couldn't find my voice, but I knew he could see it in my eyes, how I was begging him not to hurt me.

"What are you doing Sarah…" the lady asked, her eyes hollowing into her skull until they were two dark abyss. "He is mine to eat…"

"You can eat his scraps after the dog's done chewing him up!" Sarah shouted back, holding the rosary up and yelling at the hound now, "Kill him!"

The chains around it tightened making it howl, it pulled back, trying to somehow free itself from the restrains, still resisting orders.

"Kill him!" She yelled a third time.

A large paw swiped at my chair and I found myself pinned down between sharp claws. I was pretty sure I broke my wrist and a few ribs then. Suddenly I heard everything as if I were under water, the lights blinked and images flickered on and off like a bad film projection.

In one instance, I saw Sarah and the fair haired women she had called Iglot. They were fighting over the rosary. Iglot showed her true demonic form with her hollow eye sockets and razor teeth, lurching forward, all her fangs aimed at Sarah's neck. Then with a burst of light, she was blasted backwards and hit a wall roughly. I watched Sarah, her hand still glowing with residue of the blast. It was amazing. As injured as I was, I could still afford to wonder if it's the ghost of Sarah that makes all this magic possible, or is it Matt's body that gives her to power to do so?

The beast removed its paw off of me. The loss of its weight pressing down on me allowed air back into my lungs again, causing me to coughed, tasting blood in my mouth. The thick collar of chains tightened around its neck with each pull that it makes, fighting to get free. Just when I thought it would submit entirely into Sarah's commands, it stood up and yanked the chains with so much force that they broke. I would have smiled if I had the strength, thinking that Mello is back and everything would be fine now, but I saw that its eyes were still crimson red and wild as ever.

"What have you done!" Iglot flew to Sarah's side. I saw the beads of the rosary falling from her hands, every bead broken from the strand.

A deafening bark caused us all to turn in the same direction, watching the hound stand up and smash its paw down. The two women barely got out of the way. Iglot quickly morphed three identical copies of herself, now there were four of her against the beast that has gone rogue. Each of her copy pulled out a sword and charged at the hound. My heart wrenched, wishing I could stop her from harming him somehow. It wasn't necessary though, because before they could even get anywhere close to it, it had already picked up one of the clones by its teeth, crushing its bone like I've seen before and swallowing the entire creature. That didn't stop Iglot, it only fueled her further, charging onward and stabbing the giant hound in its leg, while another copy of her had her sword embedded in his neck, and another in his chest.

Tears ran down my face, I felt so helpless, hearing him howl in pain. But he fought back, catching another copy into his mouth and swallowing it. Iglot went for his chest again, aiming for his heart, the sword piercing through. It gave out a loud wail and suddenly the whole room was set on fire, the blaze went as high as the ceiling, covering all the walls, forming an infernal cage, leaving no place for an escape. The hound opened its mouth and breathed out fire, setting Iglot and her copy up in flames. Even with my bad hearing, I could still hear the agony in their screams.

Matt jumped on me out of nowhere, knife in hand. He looks completely mad. I have to tell myself that it wasn't Matt I'm looking at but Sarah. "Looks like a good day to die," She laughed frenetically, raising the knife but before she could bring it down, she was knocked over to the ground. The hound now looking down on both of us with its furious red eyes, steam blowing out of its nostrils. It opened its mouth at Matt and I knew what was going to happen next. With whatever little strength I had left, I willed myself to rolled over and cover him protectively with my body.

"No Mello!"

* * *

I'm sorry for the awfully short chapter and also for my late update. I was trying to fit the next chapter with this one and that didn't exactly work, so I had to cut it off short. I wanted to have consistent updates so bad, to discipline myself, but I'm sorry that I couldn't keep the length of the chapter consistent. Anyways, I hope you guys will still enjoy this chapter while I work hard writing the next. Thank you :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Darkness surrounded me. I felt so cold and alone for what felt like an eternity, not really sure where I was. Did I die? I knew I was cursed so wherever my soul headed wouldn't have been somewhere pleasant. But I never imagined Hell to be like this. So very, very cold and lonely. I started to cry by myself. There was no point trying to hold back now, my usual apathetic façade breaking, exposing the weak fragile boy underneath. I held myself, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get warm.

"Mommy?" a soft voice in the dark caught me off guard.

Gradually, I see a room. A lady was sitting at a table which had empty wine bottles and an ashtray full of cigarette butts on it. She was beautiful, with long straight blonde hair and a petite face, but her blue eyes were ringed with dark circles and they were vacant as she sat in her chair, her body twitched peculiarly every now and then.

"Mommy?" I heard that voice again. I turned around, seeing a small child, he couldn't be older than five, trembling behind a wall as he watched the woman. I've seen that expression before, he was much younger, but I was certain it was Matt.

What is happening? Why am I seeing this?

"Mommy?" The little boy called out again, receiving no reply. I saw him take a deep breath and quietly make his way closer. He tiptoed all the way to the table, peeking cautiously at his mother. Finally he mustered up enough courage to stand in front of her, although he was still hunched and fidgeted where he stood.

"Mommy I'm hungry," he spoke coyly, looking down at his toes.

The woman just continued to stare out the window like a statue, she didn't even blinked. I heard a soft growling sound and saw the small boy wrapped his arms around his stomach, his face contorting uncomfortably. I suddenly took notice of how alarmingly thin he was underneath his baggy shirt, and how his face was narrow and lacked baby fat. His green eyes were wide and seemed sunk in, they were innocent yet there was a kind of pain in them, like tears that would fall at any time. His unkempt red hair made his sickly skin color seem even paler. Overall he looked pitiable.

"Mommy?" The child went over and touched his mother's hand gently, hoping she would hear him.

She pulled her hand away and stood up abruptly, her eyes becoming wild and frantic, moving rapidly from side to side. The small child backed up against the wall, watching frightfully with his little fist covering his face. She took one of the bottles that was on the table and hit him with it forcefully. The glass smashed in half and I saw blood.

"Stop it!" I yelled, running over to the boy and wrapping my arms around him, but it was useless. My touch was like a ghost and I couldn't stop the next blow that came down on the poor child.

"Mommy NO!" He cried, trying to run for cover, but his mother had an iron grip on his wrist, preventing him from going anywhere. She was completely out of control.

"You ugly thing! Disgusting! Useless boy!" She cursed, landing another blow on his head which was already bleeding.

"Mommy please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He begged, curling into a tiny ball at a corner. I was screaming and trying everything to hold her back, but nothing worked, I couldn't do anything to help this defenseless child.

"I hate you!" She yelled, pulling his hands away from his face. "I hate you! You're filthy!" He stared up at his mother with his tear filled wide eyes, I can't imagine how scared he must be. "And those eyes, just like him! I hate it!" She started to gauge his left eye, pushing her fingers into his eye sockets. I've never heard a scream like the one I heard him make when she did that, so terrified and full of fear, it chilled me to the core.

I didn't know what else to do but watch this child being tortured. It felt like I wasn't even there, like I had no existence. All I could do was cry for him.

It seemed to have lasted so long that even when I was back in the darkness again, the screams still echoed in my ears. It had scarred me just by being a spectator, imagine the damage done on Matt who was so young at that time. Was it real? I didn't want to believe that it was.

"Hello there." That voice! Dad?

Suddenly I was at a park. It must have been autumn because everything was brown and orange. And there he was. I thought that my ears had deceived me, but not there's no mistake with what I was seeing now. It was dad, but he was younger. I had the urge to run up to him and wrap him so tightly in my arms that he won't ever leave me again, but for some reason I froze and couldn't do anything.

He crouched down to look under the park bench. I followed his gaze. Under the bench was a shivering little Matt, full of tears in his hiding.

"Hey, are you alright?" Dad offered a hand to the boy who just shook his head in reply. "It's okay, I won't hurt you," he tried again.

Tentatively the boy took his hand and crawled out from his hiding. He looks like a mess. His hair was tangled in knots and his clothes look like they haven't been washed in ages. There were bruises on his face and neck and probably more that is covered by his clothes. The worst of it had to be his left eye with was bloody red and bulgy.

"Hey, what happened to you?" Dad asked with concern, going down on a knee so that he could get a better look at the injuries. Matt looked at the ground, biting his lip.

"Come on, we'll get you fixed." Dad reached out for Matt's hand, but he quickly pulled away and hid behind the bench.

"Don't be scared," dad said softly, offering a hand again. "Doesn't it hurt?" he asked. Matt nodded dejectedly. Dad smiled. I felt like I haven't seen that smile in forever.

"We'll go get some medicine so that it doesn't hurt anymore, alright?" Dad took Matt's tiny hand and led him out of the park.

Whatever happened after that wasn't shown to me. The next thing I knew, I was in another room again, this time one that I was very familiar with. It was home.

Little Matt was sitting at the sofa, his feet dangling off it. He was in different clothes, he looked clean and his hair was combed, although there were still bruises on him and his eye hasn't healed yet.

"Matt," my dad called. "I want you to meet someone."

We both looked over. Cradled in his arms was me, but I was only toddler. Matt and I have met before? I don't have any recollection at all.

"This is Nate, my son." I haven't even gotten my nickname yet.

"Nate?" Matt looked curiously at the other boy whom my dad sat down next to him on the sofa.

Carefully, Matt took my hand and shook it lightly, a big grin spreading across his face. I looked like a toy as Matt fondled with my hair and hugged me close like a teddy.

"Matt, can you tell me what happened to you?" my dad asked slowly, watching Matt and me interact in our childish manner.

The redhead shook his head, hiding his face in my puff of curls, while I sucked on my thumb, too young to understand anything that was going on.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me," dad urged him.

Matt just kept looking at me, then hesitatively he answered. "I…I made mommy angry."

"How so?"

"I was h-hungry." Matt looked like he was on the verge of tears. "Mommy doesn't love me!" He burst into tears suddenly.

"Oh there there." Dad picked him up and soothed him. "I'm sure your mom loves you very much."

"Mommy d-doesn't like ma-my eyes," he hiccupped.

"Why not?" Dad placed the boy down gently on the sofa next to my younger self again. "You have the loveliest green eyes." Dad held Matt's chin tenderly to look in his eyes. "They look just like…mine." The short pause in his sentence makes me wonder if he has finally noticed it, but he shrug it off with a smile.

"I know what you need," dad said, getting up and walking out of the room. When he returned, he had a pair of orange goggles in his hand.

"Here," he handed it over to Matt, "to protect your eyes."

Matt looked up at him with a big smile and said happily, "Thank you!"

"That's a good boy." Dad patted him on the head. "You should always smile and be happy."

"Will mommy love me if I do that?" Matt asked.

"She already does," dad answered, but Matt furrowed his eyebrows, not really understanding what it meant.

"Come on, it's getting late, we should get you home. I think I should have a word with your mom."

Dad stood up and in a split second, I wasn't standing in my own house anymore but on the porch outside Matt's house.

"You stay away from my son!" I saw Matt's mother yelling at my father.

"Why didn't you tell me about him?" Dad tried to move closer but stopped, perhaps thinking it wasn't a good idea.

"What do you care?" She shouted angrily.

"Please Sarah, what are you doing to him?" Dad begged, I could see his eyes becoming glassy.

"I said stay away!" She yelled, picking up a flower pot and throwing it at my father. He was quick enough to just miss it by a couple of inches.

"Mommy no!" Matt came running out the front door, with tears down his face. "He's my friend!"

"Shut up!" Sarah scolded, slapping the boy hard on his cheek.

"Please Sarah, you need help," dad begged again, walking up the porch, probably to help Matt.

"I don't need anything from you! Stay away from me and my son!" She yanked Matt up roughly and pulled him into the house, locking the door before my dad could get close.

"Sarah!" Dad banged the door desperately.

Then everything went black like a flick of a switch. When there was light again, I found myself in a kitchen. I turned around and let out a scream from what I saw. Hanging from the ceiling right above the dining table was Matt's mom. She was completely still and I knew she was dead by the way her eyes were open and unblinking. It was a horrifying sight.

"Mommy?" I heard Matt's voice and his footsteps slowly leading into the kitchen.

"Matt don't!" I yelled, despite knowing he won't hear it.

In walks a thirteen year old Matt. His school bag slid off his shoulder as he dragged his feet over to the scene. He stopped just at the table, falling to his knees. His two hands went to clasp his ears and suddenly he started to scream loudly and didn't seem like he could stop.

"Matt!" I went over and touched his shoulder.

The scene changed again when I did that. Now I saw Sarah hanging by a rope that led up into a bright light while we were still surrounded by darkness. The Matt before me was the one I knew, my friend and my brother. He was still screaming, tears rolling down his cheek.

"Matt, stop hurting yourself!" I yelled so that he could hear me, going on my knees in front of him and holding his arms.

He suddenly got up and pushed me aside, reaching desperately for his mother, but he wasn't tall enough to free her from the rope around her neck.

"Mommy!" He jumped, trying to reach for the rope but it was useless.

"Near, please help me!" He turned to me out of the sudden, begging me on his knees, crying with his face in his hands.

"Matt," I said softly, removing both of his hands so that I could cup his face. "She's gone. It's time to let her go."

"NO!" He pushed me away roughly, going back to his mother, hugging her legs. "Please mommy, please don't leave me! Please!"

"Matt.." I called weakly, also crying myself. I wrapped both arms around him from behind, embracing him in a hug.

"Please…I'm all alone…I don't have anyone else," he mumbled through his sobs.

"You still have me, I'm right here," I tried to sooth him.

"I love her…She's my mom.." He whispered.

"I know and she loves you too, but you have to let go. For her sake." I comforted as best I could.

A nudge on my ankle made me look down, it was a small black pup. It yanked the hem of my pants, asking me to follow it.

"Matt, it's time to go." I tried to get him to let go of Sarah's body. Reluctantly he let go and wrapped me tightly in his arms.

"Everything is going to be alright," I reassured, walking with Matt's arm around me toward where the pup was leading, into the light once more.

* * *

This chapter has been a challenge trying to get over my laziness, I thought it would never get done, but here it is finally! I hope that this will receive good feedback, as always, you review is much appreciated. Anyways, we are quite close to the end now, so stay tuned!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Thoughts swirled around my head like a feather caught in a typhoon. Questions popped up one after another before I could formulate answers for each of them. It was torture. Questions about my father and Matt's mother, questions about myself, questions about Mello, so many things that I didn't have answers to.

I jolted myself awake with a start, panting breathlessly. My hand went over my chest, feeling my heart racing underneath the fabric of my shirt. I sat up, looking around to see where I was. Barren land surrounded me and I knew where I was and why I was there, although if it's the same desert as the one I've been to before I couldn't be certain, since both lacked any sort of distinguishing landmark.

"You're awake." The familiar voice made me turned and sure enough the black clad leather blonde appeared right before me.

"Where's Matt?" Of all the things I wanted to ask, that was the first question to slip.

"He's fine. He's lying asleep in your room," Mello answered coldly, which was quite out of character for him. I didn't know what it was, but it sounded as if he wasn't very fond of the redhead, which is something I find unacceptable.

"How are you?" He asked, not quite looking at me.

"I'm alright." Physically, at least. "Why are you standing over there?" I was curious as to why he kept such a great distance between us, he was at least five feet away from me.

He looked down at the dirt, but I could see that his blue eyes were hard. "What's wrong?" I asked again.

Slowly he answered, "You don't trust me."

My eyes widened at the accusation. I was about to refute it when he cut me off. "Don't tell me it's not true, I can read your mind Near," he said.

"Why don't you just ask your questions?" I was taken aback by how harsh he sounded, but then he became soft again, his eyes downcast in sadness. "But once you have your answers, will that make you trust me again?"

"Mello, I…What happened?" Everything feels so foreign and far away like a long lost memory. I suddenly felt a small panic, thinking that a lot of time must've passed, but I'm sure that's not the case.

The beautiful blonde sighed at my question, yet another odd reaction. Was he expecting me to ask something else?

"I ate you," he paused, allowing me time to regain composure. "I ate all of you to be exact. You, that boy and the other demons. Once I gain control over myself again, I immediately spit you out. The other boy doesn't seem to have sustain any significant injuries, so I let him rest back in your room. You, on the other hand almost died." He gritted his teeth, his body tensing. "But I managed to save you in time and brought you here."

"That demon, the one you killed, Iglot, is she really gone? Will she return?" I asked, alarmed.

"Yes, she's gone. Iglot is also known as the demon with six faces. I killed five. She must've traded one of her faces with Lucifer for the rosary she used to control me," he explained, looking at me. For a split second, an apologetic look flicker over his expression but it was quickly masked again.

"What about Matt's mother? What happened to her?" My mind went back to all the scenes of Matt's life flashing before my eyes.

"Her spirit was infected by a parasitic demon. This parasite feeds off spirits, and lives off their memories and emotions. It usually leaves once it's done and there's nothing left to feed on, but in that boy's case, things got a lot more complicated." He turned to me, his expression unreadable. "He's your brother, isn't he?"

Carefully, I nodded. The blonde became even more sour and bitter than he was before, if that was possible.

"That would explain a lot," he said. "The parasite didn't leave her spirit because it saw an opportunity to feed off something even bigger. That boy has a lot of energy that draws in Shadows. He's practically a demon magnet."

"So you're saying it wasn't actually Matt's mother who did all this but a parasite?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around everything.

"No, it was more like the parasite allowing the spirit to live and carried out its will while the parasite fed on the sideline. That spirit did all the things it did according to its memories and dark intentions it would've wanted to do when it was living," he finished. I pressed the palm of my hands to my temple, feeling completely stuffed with paranormal information. Poor Matt, how would he feel if he knew about this? No, I can't ever let him know about this, it would kill him.

"Why don't you ask me what you really want to ask?" His serious question made me look up at him incredulously.

"What?" I furrowed my eyebrows, but his eyes pierced right through me, reading me like an open book. Whatever he wanted me to ask, it seems he knew it better than I did myself. I thought for a while quietly, then suddenly it hit me.

"Mello…Did you kill my parents?" I finally asked hesitatively.

A look of pain adorned his features making me regret ever saying anything. I didn't want to doubt him, so why did he insist that I question him?

"Yes," he answered simply. My heart froze, everything froze. I felt a loud crack inside me, like glass breaking into pieces. A feeling of betrayal enveloped me.

"Mello…no…" I trembled.

"I'm sorry Near, if it wasn't for me, they would've never gotten on that plane." He sounded like he was on the verge of tears as well. "I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you…if only I wasn't so selfish back then.." He fell to his knees with his face in his hands.

I got up and went over to him. Tentatively, I wrapped my arms around him. No, I refuse to believe that this man would ever do anything intentionally to harm me. "Mello please," I held his face so that he would look at me, "You're not making any sense. Explain it to me, how did they die?"

"It's a long story." He managed a smirk, wiping the corners of his eyes.

"We have a lot of time," I stated, smiling at him.

"Well, it's a four thousand year old story, but I'll try to explain it as best I can." He smiled, sitting himself next to me.

"Remember I told you the story about how Lucifer fell and that was when your ancestors heard the music to open hell?" I nodded like a good student, earning another smile. "Well, when Lucifer fell, his body broke and only his Shadow went into hell, leaving him with no form. I was tasked to be a search hound to find his scattered bones. I had spent a long time searching and was almost done with my job when I met your ancestor." He sighed, shaking his head.

"That boy was a pesky little thing. He found the last bone and refused to give it to me no matter what I did." The corner of his lips curled up a little. "But he was so beautiful. While I was doing everything I could to convince him to return the bone to me, I was also falling in love with him with each passing day. You see, I have a weak spot for beautiful boys, that's why I was sentenced to Hell actually, for seducing men and sodomy, that was a grave sin for an angel."

"I taught him everything, about me, about the underworld, and in the end he used it against me." He paused, taking a deep breath, I can't tell what he was feeling at the moment. "I had a rosary, much like the one you saw Iglot used to control me. It was something I brought down from heaven with me, which makes it divine. It gave me the right over my own freedom. Your ancestor asked me, 'do you trust me enough to let me hold it?' That was how easily I got fooled, with trust."

"He cast a spell on me and I had no choice but to serve him. I served him for eighty years like a slave, thinking that once he had his fun he would finally return me my freedom. But I was wrong, he made it so that I would have to serve all his descendants for all of time. For thousands of years I held this grudge against him and hated every human I came in contact with." I placed my hand on his gently, still wanting to know the rest of the story but also letting him know that he could stop here if he wished to. He just shook his head and smiled weakly at me.

"Then I met her. Abigail. She wasn't the first of your ancestors to have developed feelings for me, but she was the first to voice it. Of course, I couldn't reciprocate her feelings, even thought I tried with all my might. After her, my view on humanity slowly changed without even me knowing, I suppose I must've also gotten tired of hating that one man for all those years."

"The flute, it's Lucifer's last bone, isn't it?" I had a sudden realization. The blonde simply nodded. After thinking for a while, I asked again, "What about my parents? How did you feel about them?"

"When I first met your father, I didn't think of him as anything special, that is, until he and your mother made their wish. I suddenly saw an opportunity. An opportunity to obtain freedom. I promised to give them a child but in return, when you reached the age of sixteen, I would devour you."

"My parents agreed to that?" I looked at him with disbelief.

"I made it very clear to them that you weren't human. Since you weren't made in a natural way but from bits of angels and myself, when you die, you'd turn back into your original form, which is pure energy. I thought that sixteen years of having you as their child would suffice. And after that, I would devour you and consume your energy into my body. I had device my plan such that the River family would not have a heir to inherit me, in which I would obtain my freedom again."

"But you told me that I was cursed and that I would go to Hell." I was now extremely confused. Did he lie to me?

"Well, at first I thought the part of you made from the angels would go to heaven and the part from me would go to hell. Those are the theories which I speculate could be true. But now everything has changed and I'm not so sure anymore." He huffed a smile. "The truth is…I don't really know. I might've been the one behind your birth, but.." He paused, placing a hand on my cheek and rubbing my face tenderly with his thumb. "You have grown in a way that I've never anticipated. I didn't even see you as a human being when your were born, but now, I can see that you're so much more…You're so precious.." His face inched closer to mine, I thought he was going to kiss me, but instead he buried his nose in my curls, inhaling deeply.

"Life is such a strange thing," he whispered in my ear. "I may have planted the seed, but the tree has grown and bear fruits, and continues to grow in ways I can't comprehend." He sighed heavily. "…This is why only divine creatures can create."

His lips rested on the skin under my ear, trailing soft wet kisses along my neck. His tongue sucking and licking my sensitive area was making it very hard to think clearly.

"What about your freedom? Why didn't my parents just return your rosary?" I breathed, eyes only half lidded now. He removed his lips from my neck, and moved away from me abruptly, making me frown at the lost of contact.

"I'm not sure if you'll forgive me if I tell you the truth." He looked very sadly at me. I leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips for strength, both for him and myself.

"My rosary was lost for thousands of years now. Your first ancestor who took it from me, after casting a spell that bounded me to your family, that bastard hid it away and he took the location of where he hid it with him to the grave. After your parents found out what I really wanted was my freedom, they bargained with me. My rosary for you life." His face became grim.

"Didn't you find it strange that they would travel to the middle of nowhere for no good reason? That's because they got news that a little museum on the outskirts had a small rosary that looked very similar to the one that belonged to me. We went and tried to search for it, but in the end it was fruitless." He stopped suddenly, but I'm sure there was more to the story. He sighed with a frown.

"When your parents got on the plane to return home, I wasn't with them. I was so stubborn, refusing to believe that the rosary wasn't there. And then it happened.." He placed his forehead to his knee, his breath becoming uneven. "The explosion was so great. I'm sorry Near, it's all my fault. That night when I made contact with you for the first time, I felt like all my sins have caught up to me and that I was being punished for all the wrong I had done. That's when I regretted everything, because I had fallen in love with you, but I knew you would come to hate me."

The atmosphere between us grew dim. I sat there next to him, but I didn't touch him, thinking quietly to myself about everything he had told me. I needed to process. I was able to digest the information he had given me but I couldn't design a proper respond. How was I suppose to feel about all this? Should I be mad at him? What good would it do? I had tried so long to find something to blame for my parents death, to make reason with something that was completely ambiguous, so that I could make sense of it all. The truth is, there's no making sense of it, what has happened has happened, and it was time for me to find closure.

Slowly, I smiled, holding Mello's face and leaning my forehead against his. "You're so human.." I murmured, my words instantly making the blonde perplexed. "It's…not your fault. It's nobody's fault," I sighed, finally letting go of the burden that has been holding me down. Wrapping my arms around him tightly, my smile grew even more. "I could never hate you so please stop hating yourself. Whatever happened on that plane was an accident."

"But Near…" The blonde tried to speak, but I quickly placed a kiss on his lips. He was still trying to speak, so I daringly entered his mouth with my tongue, massaging his tongue with my own, earning a sweet moan. I smiled victoriously, deepening the kiss and running my fingers through his silky blonde locks. Without much thought, I straddled the leather clad teen, pressing our bodies together, this time I was going to make sure that this wasn't just a dream.

I'm not sure what came over me, but my fingers soon went to unzipping his leather vest, letting him know exactly what it is I want and that was him, all of him. It's unusual for me to be so dominating, yet it was thrilling to elicit such delicious moans of pleasure from my partner while my hands roamed his toned chest and abdomen. I wanted to feel his every detail and I wanted him to feel my touch, passionate and certain.

"Near.." He breathed out, exposing his neck for me to nibble on. I found his jugular vein and it became my victim, I sucked on it, feeling the blonde's erection hardened even more between my legs. I decided it was about time to give that some of my affection. I bent so that I was on all four. Mello gave me a quizzical look through his hazed eyes, I smiled deviously at him. Maybe I'm being overconfident, but what I was about to do demanded it.

With firm hands, I undid the lace of his pants and releasing his erection, causing the blonde to sigh. Carefully, I licked the tip of his manhood, gaining a pained moan. With a smile, I gave him what he was so eager for, I took his erection in my mouth and lowered my head, taking in as much as I could, then I got up again. Slowly I began to bob my head up and down until I had a steady pace, hearing Mello moaning my name over and over again.

"Ah Near…It feels good.."

I was happy to take charge for once and continued to suck and lick, determined to see him to the end. I moved my tongue while I sucked, my saliva coating his entire length, making it easier to move. Mello had his fingers tangled in my curls, pushing my head down and thrusting his hips upward, it did choke me a couple of times, but I didn't mind. His breathing was getting more and more labored and I knew he was about to climax.

"Nhn Near! I'm going…" And he came into my mouth. I swallowed all of it, wiping some that dripped down my chin.

I sat on my ankles, looking down and blushing furiously, not really sure what should happen next, but my erection was getting unbearable. I wonder if it would be too vulgar to masturbate right now. I heard a chuckle and looked to Mello. He smiled at me, his voice entering my head, 'My turn.'

With one swift movement, he laid me on my back and kiss me chastely on the lips, then he went to my earlobe, sucking and nibbling it while his hands went to undo the buttons of my shirt, slowly might I add since his needs had already been satisfied. Usually this kind of soft, gentle gestures would be treasured, but with my erection still strangled in my pants, it was utter torture. His hand explored my skinny chest, his finger going to pinch my erect nipples, and his lips moving away from my ear to my chest. He grazed my skin with his teeth lightly from the curve of my shoulder blade down the centre of my chest, all the way to my bellybutton, stopping there to dip his tongue in, tickling me, all while his skilled fingers toyed with my nipple. I arched my back and rocked my hip trying to lean in to the touch, moans and pleas left my lips, begging for him to go lower.

"Mello ah, please…I need.."

"Yes? What do you need?" He smirked, stopping all his previous treatment.

"You, I need you." I could barely think at all, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him closer to my body.

"As you wish master," he smiled devilishly, placing three fingers to my lips. "Suck," he commanded. I did as told obediently, hungrily even. Mello busied his other hand with removing my pants and underwear, tossing them aside and then his hand was free to travel up and down my length. I groaned with his fingers still in my mouth, coating them with saliva and some residue of his come.

The blonde removed his fingers from my mouth and deftly began to insert them inside me. The first digit went in alright, so did the second, but when he started to scissor them apart, I could feel tissues being torn. Tears weld up in the corner of my eyes, he quickly kissed them away, massaging my length to help distract me. He pushed in the third digit, making me winced, but I tried not to scream. His fingers rolled in and out of me, loosening the muscles.

"Mello…please.." I said weakly, feeling like I was about to explode.

He kissed my lips as an apology, taking out his fingers and placing the tip of his new erection at my entrance, slowly moving in. He was half way in, then he pulled out with just the tip still in and thrust forward, burying his whole length inside me. I opened my mouth in a silent scream, my muscles contracting as a reflex.

"Ouch Near, relax." His hand went to attend my erection to ease the pain. Slowly, I calmed again and he started to move in and out, creating a good pace for the two of us. I brought my hip up every time he brought his down.

"Hnn…Harder Mello! Ah! More!" I begged, feeling him becoming bigger inside me, thrusting over and over again, deeper and deeper. I just couldn't get enough.

"Near…ugh, it's so tight.." He moaned into my ear, thrusting into that bundle of nerves that made me see stars.

"Ngah! Mello! There! Right there!"

"I love you Near." He kissed me, our tongues dancing in heated passion. My heart was galloping from everything I was feeling, I felt so happy.

"Mello! I love you!" I panted, feeling myself very close to the end.

"Near, I'm…"

"I'm coming!"

And we finished together. His seeds pouring into me while mine splattered all over out chests. He gave me one last kiss on the lip before collapsing next to me, both of us exhausted and absolutely contented in each others arms.

"So Mello," I said after awhile.

"Hm?" He mumbled with his eyes closed.

"Is this our first time or second time?" I asked.

"As long as it's not our last time," he smirked and we fell asleep together.

* * *

Wow, so this has got to be the longest chapter I've written yet. I hope I managed to explain everything in this chapter, the next will probably be the last. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this and please leave a comment, I would like to know that there's still people reading this :)


	12. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The awareness of something warm next to me was what finally brought me back to the real world. I was surprised by who I found next to me. Cramped in one small single bed was me and Matt. He had one arm around me and another holding my arm, while one leg of his was over me like I was a bolster. His mouth was next to my ear, snoring lightly and breathing hot air down my neck.

"Matt?" I called quietly, feeling a little uncomfortable with our position. He didn't stir. He looked peaceful but I could see that he has been crying, judging by the puffiness and dark circles under his eyes. I was so worried for him, placing a kiss on his forehead.

"Your cousin is back," Mello interrupted, standing by the door with his arms crossed over his chest, looking sourly at the two of us. I still don't understand what has been bothering him recently.

L is back, that should be my main focus right now. I suddenly remembered all the broken plates and chair, the turned over table and blood on the floor. I quickly slipped out of Matt's grasp and was going to hurry down to the kitchen, although I'm not sure what good that would do.

"I've already cleaned up the kitchen. Don't fret," Mello stated dryly. Mello's uncharacteristic cold shoulder towards me was really starting to push my buttons the wrong way, I mean we've just made love, the least he could be was friendly. I remember it! Thank goodness, it's real, I smiled inwardly, knowing that nothing could take away the precious time I've shared with the blonde.

"I really enjoyed myself as well," Mello said, probably reading my thoughts again, finally giving me one of those heart melting smiles. I returned with a happy smile of my own, tiptoeing so that I could kiss him on the lip.

"I love you," I whispered, hugging him tight.

"I love you too, all of you," He said, eyeing Matt who was still fast asleep on my bed.

"Wha-" He placed a finger to my lips, shushing me. "You should go speak with your cousin," He suggested, not letting me finish my question. I sighed and nodded in defeat, walking out of the room to go downstairs.

I entered the kitchen, and found it just as it was before Matt's mother made a havoc of things, not a trace of broken glass or spilled blood anywhere. L was sitting at the table with a cup of his favorite tea and a small plate piled with nicely stacked sugar cubes in front of him.

"Welcome back," I said, catching L's attention. "Where have you been?" I asked curiously.

"Oh good morning Near, come sit down," He gestured for me to sit at the table, placing more cubes of sugar into his tea. "I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly, but something came up that I had to check on immediately. Didn't Matt tell you that? I had asked him to stay over and inform you the day I left."

I don't remember Matt telling me any of this at all, but it would explain why he was over at my house. I twirled a lock of my hair, feeling like I've been through some strange time leap.

"L, I have something I want to discuss with you, it's about Matt," I said after awhile, coiling my hair tightly around my finger.

This seem to catch L off guard, his usually large black eyes grew even wider. "I too have matters concerning Matt I would like to discuss with you."

"Really?" It was my turn to be surprise.

L nodded, taking a sip of his highly-sweetened tea. "Yes, in fact the reason behind my sudden departure was to investigate his home." My eyes grew very wide, I was completely dumbfounded. "I'm sorry Near," L scratch the back of his head and gave me an embarrassed smile. "I couldn't help myself, I needed to know who Matt really was, so I conducted a background check on him and it turned out to be beneficial."

"What do you mean?" I asked, still taken aback by L's complete intrusion on Matt's personal and supposed private life.

"I'm sure you are aware that Matt doesn't have a father, but it seems no one has heard from his mother for a little over three years now. I dug a little further and found out that his real name isn't even Matt, it's Mail Jeevas, when I knew this, I was very alarmed. I was compelled to dig even deeper. I ended up at his old residence which he was living in for seven years and you wouldn't believe the skeleton I found hidden in his closet, or more accurately, the skeleton hanging from the ceiling." L explained.

My heart instantly started to race when I heard this. He can't mean…

"Yes, as you can already guess, I was very surprised. The cause of death was suicide as it was plain to see, but I took the skeleton down and brought it for an autopsy. The fractured hyoid bone confirmed my suspicion that it was suicide and furthermore, on conduction of a maternity test, I confirmed that it is indeed Matt's mother. In addition, I also know that Matt was once living in the exact same house he's living in now almost ten years ago, I'm not sure on his reasons for moving back, but the fact that he has kept his mother's death a secret for so long is extremely worrisome." L added more sugar to his tea and drank calmly despite him saying he was worried.

"No L, Matt's not like that, he's a good person…He's just been through a lot," my voice became small, looking down, still nervously playing with my hair.

"Quite frankly, I'm a little amazed at how no one realize this earlier and also the fact that Matt has been able to support himself without any adult supervision. Matt's mother, Sarah Jeevas' bank account has remained active even after her death and what's more there seems to be a steady input of cash from unknown sources. I could guess that he has been illegally hacking for money-"

"L," I stopped him. "Matt's my brother." I confessed bluntly.

L blinked, placing down his cup and putting his hands on his knees in that awkward way that he sits. Slowly he muttered, "I know."

"You do?" I creased my eyebrows.

"Yes, the paternity test came back to a 99% match. I've suspected it since the very first time we met. His resemblance to your dad is just too apparent."

"Please L, Matt's really important to me. Can't you help him somehow? He doesn't have anyone else." I was almost begging.

"There's a lot of legal issues to settle and I have to have a long chat with him, but I'll try to help him. Truthfully, I feel responsible for him, he is part of the family after all." L finished his tea and got up to bring his cup to the sink.

"Thanks L." I got up and hugged him, causing him to stiffened. L was never really good at physical contact, but I didn't know how else to convey my feelings across. "Thanks for everything you've done for me, for taking care of me." I felt his cool long finger stroking my hair awkwardly, finally his placed two hands on my shoulder for what I assume as him returning my hug.

"There's no need for thanks Near, it's just what family do for each other. Honestly, I'm always afraid that I might be doing something wrong. If I ever do, you'll let me know, right?" L, you could never do anything wrong, you're the best guardian anyone could ask for, that's what I thought, but in the end all my emotions just came back as tears and I shook my head, holding tightly to L's waist.

"I'm surprised you're taking Matt in so easily, I thought you'd be shock. Guess my worries weren't necessary. I'm glad you two have grown to be good friends, you should have more of those Near," L said lightly, smiling a little.

I shook my head again, "No, Matt is dad's gift to me," and continued to cuddle in L's embrace.

"Um." A third party's voice made the two of us turn, seeing a very emotionally exhausted Matt entering the kitchen. "I-" He started, but then he lost his words and just looked dismally at the ground.

"Why don't you let me talk to him?" L suggested, and I decided that somebody older would have a better idea on how to help Matt right now so I nodded and headed out of the kitchen.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?" I offered to Matt, trying to cheer him up, but he didn't even look at me in the eye. Defeated, I retreated to my room.

When I reached my room, I closed the door so that I wouldn't be accidentally eavesdropping on their conversation although I was very curious to know what they would be talking about. Sitting down on the bed and pulling one knee to my chest, I obsessively twirled my hair till my finger went numb.

"Something on your mind?" Mello appeared out of the blue, sitting next to me. I let go my curl to hold his hand instead, cuddling close to him.

"I'm just worried about Matt," I replied.

"Tsk," the blonde scowled, looking displeased again.

"What's wrong? Why do you get so worked up whenever it's about Matt? He's my brother, you shouldn't-"

"I just hate it," he didn't let me finish. "He almost got you killed," he said through gritted teeth.

"That's not fair Mello, he was possessed," I tried to defend my beloved brother.

"Why are you defending him? Why do you care about him so much?" He tightened his fist.

"He's my brother, I love him," my pitch rose just a little.

"Aren't I your family? Don't I count for something?" He gripped my shoulders painfully, raising his voice at me.

I was speechless. Cautiously, I asked. "Mello, are you jealous?"

His blue eyes lost their shimmer as he looked down at his hands. "I just want to be part of your life." He admitted finally.

His words were like flowers blooming in my chest, causing me to have an overwhelming feeling of happiness. Despite his tough outer appearances and him being a demon, Mello was absolutely adorable, and I was loving this vulnerable side of him.

"I would really love to introduce you to my family," I offered in a friendly formal fashion.

Mello looked at me in confusion. "What do you mean? I can't, it's too dangerous," He contended.

"There's no rule saying I have to keep you a secret," I insisted confidently.

"But…" I could see that all these years of hiding has made him wary of whether he was suppose to expose his existence to human or not, especially since his last human contact forced him to be a house pet for four thousand years. Something like that would certainly leave a scar, but perhaps he has been too domesticated.

"You are a part of my life, there'll be no objections to that," I affirmed, cupping his face and placing a kiss on both side of his face before laying a soft one on his delicious lips.

"Come," I ushered, taking him by the hand and walking out of the room. I could hear from the voices that Matt and L were still in the kitchen. I walked in and caught their attention immediately, Matt was practically bouncing his way over to me, wrapping me in a tight embrace.

"Near! Did you hear the great news! L says I can stay here with you!" Matt beamed cheerfully, I was glad to see his happy face once again. "We're going to have so much fun together, going to school, playing video games, chasing girls- Hey, who's that?" Matt stopped and asked suddenly, looking at the blonde standing behind me. L was also stretching his neck to get a better look at Mello.

"Um, everyone, I like you to meet Mello, he's my…friend," I introduced coyly.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you." Mello smiled that million dollar smile of his.

Matt immediately pushed his bangs aside to get a full view of the leather clad teen, his mouth taking on an O shape as he scanned Mello like a mouse sniffs out cheese. L also had one eyebrow raised, he looks like he has a lot of questions he wants to ask. I conveniently forgot to get Mello to change out of his conspicuous leather wear and now he looks completely out of place.

"He's from German," I quickly added to save myself.

"Oh, do you go to the same school? Why is he here today?" L's interrogative spirits was already set in motion. I might have jumped a little ahead of myself thinking that introducing Mello to these two especially L would be an easy task, perhaps this isn't the most well-thought out of ideas I've had.

Luckily Matt stepped in to save the day. "Yeah, he's the new transfer student, we're all in the same class. We were suppose to go bowling today, right Near?" He nudged me in the shoulder, grinning excitedly.

"Yeah, that's right," I tried to keep my face blank.

"Is that so?" L said, almost musing to himself.

"Yeah! So let's go!" Matt piped up, fake walking in his spot to prove his point.

"May I join you?" L inquired, something else in his voice hinted that he was after more than a just peaceful evening of a good bowl. A thumb to his lower lip validated it.

"Sure!" Matt agreed hastily before neither I nor Mello had the time to say otherwise.

"Great, let's get going then," Mello invited, surprising me.

"Oh wait," L paused, digging through his pockets for something. He took out four small bars of chocolate, handing each of us one and keeping one for himself. "Never start a journey without candy to sweetened the way," L presented his peculiar proverb and then we were off.

I bet we must look like an odd bunch walking down the street, with L and his stooped posture, Mello in leather, Matt in goggles and my unusual pallor appearance. Matt and L walked in front of me whereas Mello walked by my side, enjoying the small bar of chocolate a little more than I thought he would.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to eat that?" I whispered silently to Mello, watching him take another happy bite.

"I'm not really sure myself….but it's delicious, it tastes almost as good as you." The blonde was practically shriveling at the goodness of his treat.

"Did you say something?" Matt turned around, eyeing us.

"N-Nothing!" I stuttered, hoping he didn't just overheard Mello comparing the taste of chocolate with me.

Matt seems to be getting along well with L, they've been having a quiet discussion about something for the whole way now.

"…seems pretty suspicious.." L mumbled.

"..it's the aliens I tell you!…" Matt hushed his reply.

Huh? What are they talking about? Somehow I sense that they're talking about Mello. I turned to look at Mello on my left, wondering if he was reading their minds, but he was gleefully licking away at his gloved fingers.

"Hey do you want your chocolate?" the blonde asked me. I handed my chocolate bar over to him, not one for sweets.

Sighing internally, I suddenly realize how at peace I felt. A year ago, I was a lonely boy who had just lost the two most important people in his life. And now, I have a trustworthy guardian who loves me like I was his own child, I found a brother and a friend in the midst of chaos, and most of all, a lover who would protect and treasure me always.

I think back to my parents again, how they had to leave me so suddenly and the despair I felt from their death, wondering why they would ever cause me so much pain and leave me without anyone in this vast empty world. But they're still with me today, somewhere, where ever they have gone, they continue to look out for me and lead me on the right track. I've stopped asking why they died, whatever reason it is, there is a reason, maybe I'll learn it someday, maybe I never will, but I know now that I'm not alone, that they'll always be people looking out for me. And when I think of this, it eases the pain.

I'll always have their memories with me, they are part of me, just as their death has become part of my life. Some nights, it'll still haunt me, but I know daylight will come and I can find something good in the days ahead. I'm sure there'll always be trials and tribulations, Mello and Matt too have their fair share of unpleasant experiences, whether it's betrayal, broken hearts or even death, I know we can face them because we have each other.

They say when God takes something away, He gives something better in return. Maybe it was my parents time to return to His arms, I hope they are happy there. And me, God has given three precious people in their place for me to call family and I'm sure that as time goes on, my wounds will heal and I'll grow into someone my parents would be proud of.

The past shapes us for the future, whatever has happened, life goes on.

* * *

So we've finally made it to the end, I thank everyone who has reviewed, faved or alerted this story, from the bottom of my heart, you have no idea how much it means to me that people read my work.

This last few months have been rough on me, trying to get a hold on how to live with bipolar. I never thought I would get back on my feet or write again, I thought my dream was over, but I've proved myself wrong. Even if it's small and not much, I'm glad that I've written this and made it all the way to the end, it started out as just a small idea and as I wrote, the more I found inspiration to write again, and got over the wretched writer's block.

I wanted to finish this soon because I'm worried if I'll be busy with other stuff later on, I might not be writing long stories for awhile but I won't go on a complete hiatus either. Maybe some oneshots here and there. We'll see. I'm sorry I didn't develop this story further, truthfully as I wrote, I did realize there was a lot more I could do with the story. But I've set out a simple goal for myself and I feel like I've achieved it, this story is a lot longer than I thought it would be and it did show the theme of 'family' throughout, which was what I was aiming for. I'm happy with the way it turned out, but I could imagine myself progressing with the story on a later date, perhaps a Mello's POV or Matt's POV. But for now, I hope this makes a sufficient good story.

Again, I want to thank everyone sincerely for their encouragement, you guys are wonderful :)


End file.
